Stephon Gilmore A No Show At Patriots Camp, How It Impacts Odds

• Stephon Gilmore is in the last year of his contract.
• Gilmore won the NFL Defensive Player of the year award in 2019 with New England.
• His numbers dropped heavily from 2019 to 2020.

FOXBORO, Mass. – Stephon Gilmore, the New England Patriots star cornerback, neglected to report to the team’s mandatory minicamp on Monday. His absence is likely due to his contract situation as he is in the final year of his deal and is slated to make just $7.5 million in base salary after restructuring last season.

Hearing that a player like Stephon Gilmore is making just $7.5 million might seem absurd, but the team moved almost $5 million from this year’s contract up last year. Regardless, the amount of money might not be the issue and just the fact that he doesn’t have any security moving forward.

Bill Belichick is notorious for getting the most out of his Patriots and moving on when they start to decline, Gilmore might be in a tough spot as he’s probably peaked with his 2019 season in which he won Defensive Player of the Year.

How Important Is He To The Patriots?

There’s little argument against Gilmore being one of the elite cornerbacks in the NFL, but his numbers dropped substantially from 2019 to 2020. In 2019 Gilmore ranked first in coverage rating, catch rate allowed and passer rating allowed compared to 34th in coverage rating, 40th in catch rate allowed and 33rd in passer rating allowed in 2020 according to Player Profiler.

Considering the Patriots are already +110 underdogs to make the playoffs, NFL bettors shouldn’t change their thinking too much if Gilmore decides to hold out through the start of the season.

Sports betting sites have the Patriots listed as the 14th option to win the Super Bowl this season and while there’s no doubt that Gilmore is a valued commodity, he’s not going to be able to single-handedly turn this team into a title contender.