Report: Patriots Give CB Stephon Gilmore Raise for 2020 Season

Gilmore has two years left on his contract with the Patriots.

The New England Patriots are giving a raise to 2019 Defensive Player of the Year Stephon Gilmore, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. 

Gilmore, who was slated to have a $10.5 million salary this season, gets his salary bumped up to $15.5 million, with the opportunity to make $17.5 million by reaching incentives. 

Patriots gave reigning Defensive Player of the Year Stephon Gilmore a significant raise for this season today, bumping his salary from $10.5 million to $15.5M with chance to earn up to $17.5M in incentives even as he has two years left on his contract, per league sources.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 11, 2020

Gilmore’s raise comes just a few days after cornerback Jalen Ramsay got a five-year, $105 million contract extension from the Los Angeles Rams, making him the highest paid defensive back in NFL history. 

The raise for Gilmore was likely a way to keep the veteran happy for the time being. His five-year, $65 million contract expires in 2022, which means he could request an extension next offseason. Gilmore will be 31 years old at the start of the 2021 NFL season, so it’s unlikely New England will be willing to pay big money to keep him around. However, giving Gilmore a raise now makes it cheaper for the six-time Super Bowl champions to franchise tag Gilmore in 2022. 

Based on this Stephon Gilmore's 2021 (not 2020) cap number decreased by $5M to $14,670,834 making it even easier to tag Gilmore in 2022. His 2022 tag number was going to be $23.605M. Now will be $17.605M. https://t.co/rNh5xJImAY

— Patscap (@patscap) September 11, 2020

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