Panthers Have Had Discussions with Free Agent CB Stephon Gilmore

At the beginning of the offseason, many wondered if the Panthers would be able to retain either of its top two corners, Donte Jackson and Stephon Gilmore, as both hit the free agent market.

Jackson's deal became official last week as he and the Panthers agreed to a three-year, $35 million deal ($16.7 million guaranteed). This signaled that Carolina would let Gilmore walk in free agency given that the team traded for CJ Henderson last season and also spent their first round pick on Jaycee Horn, who in only 2.5 games already has the look of a shutdown corner.

However, bringing Gilmore back is not completely out of the cards. Panthers GM Scott Fitterer even stated a couple of months back that if the numbers work, he would love to have Gilmore and Jackson back.

"I'd love for them both to be here because I think they're both valuable players for us. Donte, I thought, had one of his best years in the NFL this year. Stephon is so smart and is so good for that room. He has a really special skill set. I don't know what those numbers are going to be yet but we'll work through that."

Since free agency began, several teams have expressed interest in the 31-year-old corner, most notably the New York Jets, San Francisco 49ers, and Las Vegas Raiders. So, why hasn't Gilmore signed yet? He wants to make sure he ends up being in the right situation. He wants to be on a competitive team and one that can contend for much more than a playoff spot. For Carolina to truly sell him on coming back, they will need to get him to buy-in to the long-term vision of this young group molding into a championship caliber team over the next few years. That is if they want him back, however.

With Jackson locked up for the next three years and Horn, Henderson, Thomas-Oliver, and Pride still on rookie contracts, it's already a pretty full room. I'd imagine that they see the future of the secondary being a mixture of Jackson, Horn, and Henderson, so will Carolina be interested in bringing back Gilmore essentially pushing Henderson down the depth chart?

Time will tell, but when Fitterer spoke with reporters on Friday, he left the possibility still on the table, much like he is doing with Cam Newton.

"Yeah. As a matter of fact, Dan Morgan and I and our wives were at dinner last Friday night and Steph came up and met us and brought his son up. We just had dinner, we talked and the door is still open. It was a really good talk and much like Cam, he's looking for the right situation and these guys are highly competitive guys. They want to start. They want to win. They want to compete at the highest level. But the door is open for us."

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