In case anyone was unclear, the New England Patriots‘ Stephon Gilmore feels he is underpaid. After his short, but poignant tweet on Tuesday, it is difficult to argue with him.
Gilmore expressed himself through a retweeted image that listed the highest-paid cornerbacks in the NFL with a two-word caption: “Oh ok.” Here is the tweet:
Oh ok ….
The original image came from CBS Sports Headquarters, who deleted the tweet for some reason. Luckily, I was able to grab a snapshot of it before it was deleted.
TwitterCBS Sports HQ Tweet
As you can see from the image, Gilmore’s name isn’t listed among the Top-10, and that is the problem he has with the Patriots. It explains his absence from OTAs and minicamp. It will also be the reason he doesn’t report to training camp in July, if a resolution isn’t found.
Patriots head coach and general manager Bill Belichick had to be expecting this to happen. During minicamp, Belichick was short with all of his answers to questions about Gilmore’s whereabouts. On June 15, Belichick told the media:
“I don’t expect him to be here, and we’ll just focus on the guys that are here.”
When asked about J.C. Jackson potentially taking on a bigger role in Gilmore’s absence, Belichick spoke a little more, but he still chose to keep the specifics about his star sparse.
“Every year is a new year for all of us, so it doesn’t really matter what did or didn’t happen last year,” Belichick said. “We’re all working on building a good foundation this year and trying to have our best performance in the 2021 season. I know that J.C. [Jackson], that’s his goal and that’s all of our goals, so we’ll see how it goes.”
Twitter Reacts to Gilmore’s Tweet
NBC Boston 10’s Raul Martinez seems to side with Gilmore in his retweet with comment. He asks where do people think Gilmore ranks on the list when it comes to talent.
The Boston Herald’s Karen Guregian points out that Gilmore is “nowhere in sight” on the pay scale rankings.
ESPN’s Mike Reiss played it a little closer to the vest, but does point out that Gilmore “doesn’t crack the Top 10.”
Patriots CB Stephon Gilmore did not attend mandatory minicamp in June.
Here, he references a chart of the highest-paid DBs in the NFL (based on average annual value) in which he doesn’t crack the top 10.
Want a truly sobering concept delivered with cold, hard facts? 98.5’s The Sports Hub’s Alex Barth says the $7 million Gilmore is scheduled to earn in 2021 would make him the 26th highest-paid player at his position next season.
In terms of 2021 cash, Stephon Gilmore is scheduled to be the 26th-highest paid cornerback in the NFL in 2021.
New England has a problem, and it is one that needs to be resolved before training camp, and at the latest, before the preseason schedule begins.
Gilmore Has a Right to Be Upset
While we know Gilmore took a raise last season to keep him happy, most knew that if a new deal wasn’t hatched for the former Defensive Player of the Year, we would wind up at an impasse. At 31 years old, Gilmore probably can’t insist on being paid what the Los Angeles Rams’ Jalen Ramsey or the Buffalo Bills’ Tre-Davious White receive. However, after yet another Pro Bowl selection in 2020, Gilmore is certainly right to expect to be in the Top-7 highest-paid corners in the league.
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Stephon Gilmore Voices Displeasure for His Contract on Twitter