Detroit Lions general manager Bob Quinn recently made the decision to trade his best cornerback, Darius Slay. Now, the Lions are in the position where they are almost locked in to selecting a cornerback in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft.
Or are they?
In a recent article published by Albert Breer, he suggests that the New England Patriots could end up trading the 2019 NFL Defensive Player of the Year Stephon Gilmore to free up some cap space.
From Sports Illustrated:
“It’ll be interesting to see what happens with Patriots corner Stephon Gilmore. New England needs cap space—and Gilmore has an $18.67 million cap hit for this year and a $19.67 million cap hit for next year, after a 2019 restructure. But he’s only taking home $11 million in cash this year, $12 million next year, and, after that, he’s up. Gilmore’s deal, at $13 million per year, was near the top of the corner market when he signed it. Since then, he’s gotten better, and the market for defensive players has exploded. He’s now around $10 million per year short of fellow DPOYs Khalil Mack and Aaron Donald.
And it stands to reason that if the Pats went to him looking for cap relief, he’d want something in return—and he might want a correction anyway. He’s New England’s best player. He turns 30 in September. The Patriots are retooling. If you’re a corner-needy team, you might want to give them a call just to check in.”
As I said above, the Lions certainly need help at the cornerback position and I get it that some Lions fans (and other blogs) have suggested that this could be a move for the Lions to consider. That being said, there is no way in hell the Lions would bring in 29-year-old CB (actually a little older than Slay) for that kind of money. Not to mention, to get Gilmore in the first place, the Lions would have to give up draft capital. NOT HAPPENING!
So, if you read anywhere that the Lions should attempt to trade for Gilmore, please remember this article because there is zero chance of it happening.
