I hesitate to jump into anything before it becomes official, but the news is already flying so let’s jump in and figure out and take a look at the rumors circling the Pats as we wait for free agency to officially start at 4pm EST. Then we’ll jump into full analysis of the guys they actually do sign, but there are already signs today could be filled with fireworks.
First comes this…
So Patriots expected to land top free-agent CB Stephon Gilmore.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 9, 2017
Then this…
Source: The #Patriots are working on a deal to bring back versatile DB Duron Harmon. It’s expected to happen. More secondary action.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 9, 2017
And this…
The New England Patriots are considering trading Malcolm Butler to the New Orleans Saints for Brandin Cooks per sources
— Dianna Russini (@diannaESPN) March 9, 2017
Plenty to digest here. Let’s start with Gilmore, who would fit the man coverage style the Patriots have gravitated toward in recent seasons. It’s reported that Gilmore could sign for as much as $14 million per season. Before I re-evaluate everything I believe about the Patriots and cornerbacks, I’ll wait until the actual numbers come out. The Pats are always creative at getting value even if the numbers give the player an exciting headline.
The truth is the Patriots have never really paid a cornerback a big-time long term contract. Gilmore might be the first, which is curious considering you’ve got Malcolm Butler just sitting there and he’s one of the best corners in the league. So I don’t know entirely how to make sense of this, but when if they’re really considering moving Butler to the Saints for Cooks the Gilmore signing makes a tiny more sense. And if they don’t trade Butler, they’ll ride him out one more year on his first-round RFA tender and see if they can work out a long term deal with him by next offseason.
Ultimately, I think the Patriots view all corners are replaceable in their system. The Gilmore number might change that a little bit, but I think what they realized in 2012 is that without man corners you’re dead meat. That’s when they grabbed Talib, then Revis, then developed Butler/Ryan, etc. We’ll see how it plays out today.
As for Harmon I’m surprised but happy if they do bring him back. He’s vital to keeping flexibility with McCourty and although he’s just a third safety, that’s essentially a starting spot in certain games when they run their three-safety sets.
Plenty more to come…
