Stephon Gilmore was such a good and highly respected cornerback that he made the Pro Bowl in a season in which he played in just eight games for the Carolina Panthers.
That was the last Pro Bowl honor of a superb career, one that is officially coming to an end this week.
Gilmore has announced that he’ll be officially retiring from the NFL on Friday and doing it as a member of the New England Patriots. And then Gilmore will turn 36 years old on his birthday on Saturday.
Former 5x Pro Bowl CB and NFL Defensive Player of the Year Stephon Gilmore will officially retire from the NFL on Friday as a member of the #Patriots. pic.twitter.com/8JE7Qs71Tt
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) September 17, 2026
Gilmore won a Super Bowl championship with the Patriots and played four of his 13 seasons there.
His NFL career was well-traveled, though, including that standout season in Carolina.
Stephon Gilmore With Panthers
Gilmore came to the Panthers directly to end his career with the Patriots as part of a trade in the middle of the 2021 season.
It was October, and Gilmore was in his age-31 season, but he looked every bit the shutdown corner he always had once he returned from an injury that had ended his previous campaign.
In just eight games with the Panthers, Gilmore made two interceptions and 16 tackles. Mostly, teams threw the other way.
The top corners, like Gilmore, never get thrown at very much. That season, in total, he allowed just 159 yards on passes thrown his way. The 9.4 yards per completion toward him was also the lowest rate of his career from the point in time which that began being tracked in 2018.
Gilmore was a free agent after that season and didn’t return, moving on to sign with the Indianapolis Colts.
Stephon Gilmore Career Timeline
Gilmore grew up in Rock Hill, South Carolina and stayed near home to play for the South Carolina Gamecocks.
He was a collegiate star, earning himself a selection as the No. 10 overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft by the Buffalo Bills.
Gilmore spent his first five seasons in Buffalo, intercepting 14 passes and making 226 tackles. He made his first Pro Bowl in his final season with the Bills, when he picked off five passes, a career-high up to that point.
He then moved on in the AFC East to the Patriots, for whom he won his one Super Bowl and also had a career-high six interceptions and 20 passes defensed during the 2019 season.
The four years in New England were followed with his eight games for the Panthers in 2021. Gilmore then played 16 games for the Colts in 2022, 17 games for the Cowboys in 2023 and 15 games for the Vikings in 2024.
Gilmore wasn’t under contract during the 2025 season.
Amazingly, he had at least one interception in every single season of his NFL career, and in 180 career games, Gilmore picked off 32 passes in total.
At his peak, he was named the 2019 Defensive Player of the Year, and with his career in full, Gilmore will have a case to one day be named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Panthers’ Former Pro Bowler Retires From NFL 2 Days Before Birthday