The Buffalo Bills’ Stephon Gilmore is signing with a heated division rival, but that’s actually a good thing.
Stephon Gilmore‘s days of playing football for the Buffalo Bills are over, at least for now. The former first-round draft pick signed a five-year deal with the New England Patriots worth $65 million, with $40 million of that guaranteed.
It’s a hefty price paid by New England, a team usually not known for free agent signings. Buffalo Bills fans must also feel the sting of seeing a long-time player going to a division rival, especially the dreaded Patriots.
But you know what? They shouldn’t. The truth is the Patriots paid great money for a player that’s merely good. Meanwhile, the Bills cut ties with a young player who played well, but wasn’t worth the phenomenal asking price.
Does it sound weird hearing both teams described like that? It should. New England is well-known for dropping players that ask for too much money, while the Bills overpay people on their roster frequently. There’s a reason why General Manager Doug Whaley has had to go back and restructure some contracts.
In this case, Buffalo made a decision unlike them, and it’s the correct one. Stephen Gilmore has every right to go out in free agency and sign somewhere else. He definitely wants a big paycheck and shot at a Super Bowl ring.
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But his results don’t warrant the money. His four years in the league have been productive on paper (226 tackles, 62 pass deflections and 14 interceptions), but he hasn’t been a consistent shut-down corner. His last season included some positives, with multi-interception games against the Arizona Cardinals and Cincinnati Bengals.
But it also resulted in bad play after another that made his high salary demands for 2017 seem like a joke. Does a true shut down corner let this happen to them? In fact, Gilmore’s level of play during the season attracted criticism from then-head coach Rex Ryan, normally not a man known for calling out his players. Until his second half of the season, it looked like he was playing his way out of more money.
Watch those three plays again. I’m not cherry picking his worst moments of the year folks, Gilmore had an effort problem this year. If Bill Belichick hasn’t watched his week two meltdown against the Jets, doing so might make him mumble in anger. No amount of money could fix the fact that judging by his body language, Gilmore doesn’t want to be a Buffalo Bill.
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Even if they had franchise tagged him, would it have been worth the cash? Stephon Gilmore had a strong finish to his 2016 season, but there’s no guarantee he’d continue that in 2017. Gambling $14 million that it would happen is bad business.
It would be a bad football move too. Buffalo’s 2017 schedule includes facing off against top wideouts Julio Jones, Mike Evans, DeSean Jackson, Amari Cooper, A.J. Green, Keenan Allen, T.Y. Hilton, Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders. Considering Gilmore had trouble covering Chris Hogan and Quincy Enunwa, would you have trusted him to go up against that all-star line-up?
Here’s another financial argument. Slapping the franchise tag on Gilmore also would’ve eaten into their already-tight cap and could’ve kept them from getting desired free agents. Since Buffalo needs needs secondary and wide receiver help, signing an overrated corner to an expensive deal would hand-tie them greatly.
Then there’s also the fact that the Buffalo Bills have corners that can play with Ronald Darby and Kevon Seymour on the team. Both could excel in Sean McDermott’s zone defense, making Stephon Gilmore‘s departure meaningless.
In addition, the team signed Green Bay Packers safety Micah Hyde yesterday, giving them a valuable defensive chess piece. He’s played some cornerback during his career, and could sub for Darby or Seymour if they are injured or aren’t playing well.
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It also helps to have the NFL Draft coming up next month, which has a class that’s argued to be strong with defensive backs. Buffalo could get a player like Washington’s Sidney Jones with the intention of making him a day-one starter. Again, another way to replace their 2012 first round pick.
Could Bill Belichick get something out of Gilmore that the Bills couldn’t? Sure, he’s worked his magic with other players before. But let the Patriots overspend to either figure that out, or let it blow up in their face. It’s a shame to see homegrown talent go, but there’s a reason why they call this the business of football.
Stephon Gilmore had no business asking for big money, so he won’t be playing football for the Bills anymore.
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Who do you think will replace Stephon Gilmore next season? Leave your thoughts below!