This year’s free-agent class is deep at several positions, one of them being at cornerback. Some impactful players could be on the move in the secondary, one of them being the 2019 Defensive Player of the Year award winner, Stephon Gilmore. Among the teams who could be landing spots are the Indianapolis Colts, San Francisco 49ers, and Pittsburgh Steelers.
Gilmore’s tenure with the New England Patriots ended on a low note, as he was seeking a new contract but the team would not give him one. After sitting out the beginning of the season on the physically unable to perform list, the Patriots shipped him to the Carolina Panthers.
Gilmore had to knock off some rust but showed that he still has plenty left in the tank. Despite appearing in only nine games in 2021, Spotrac still expects Gilmore to cash in this season with a contract that has an average annual value of $14.1 million.
His age is the only thing that is a deterrent right now, as Gilmore, when healthy, is still a premier cornerback in this league. There are plenty of teams that would love to plug him into a secondary as the missing piece to bring it all together on that side of the ball.
One team that could certainly use him to shore things up on the backend is the Pittsburgh Steelers. Pittsburgh was named one of three possible destinations for Gilmore and the move would make sense.
The Steelers No. 1 cornerback the last few seasons, Joe Haden, is heading into free agency. Upgrading on him with Gilmore would help an already stout defense become that much tougher to beat.
Gilmore would give the Steelers an elite player at every level of their defense as Cam Heyward and T.J. Watt are stars in the front seven while Minkah Fitzpatrick is among the best in the business at safety.
Another team with a potential void to fill atop their depth chart is the Indianapolis Colts. They have had Xavier Rhodes filling that spot the last two seasons and he has exceeded expectations. Entering free agency, the Colts could opt to go in a different direction and would certainly have the money to chase a player of Gilmore’s caliber.
Last but not least, a third team mentioned is the San Francisco 49ers. San Francisco’s secondary was shaky throughout the 2021 season. Had they performed better, there was a chance they could have knocked off the Los Angeles Rams in the postseason, who had Cooper Kupp and Odell Beckham Jr. running wide open throughout the game.
Richard Sherman believes that Stephon Gilmore will ultimately end up heading out west with the 49ers or their NFC West rivals the Seattle Seahawks.
