The New England Patriots are reportedly open to making Pro Bowl Cornerback Stephon Gilmore part of a trade to move up in the 2021 NFL Draft. Sitting five spots above the Patriots with the 10th pick, should the CB-needy Dallas Cowboys be open to a discussion about trading down and adding Gilmore?
Gilmore was a 1st-round pick in 2012 by the Buffalo Bills. Ironically, he went four spots after the Cowboys traded up to draft Morris Claiborne. While Claiborne is essentially out of the NFL at this point and never accomplished much, Gilmore is a four-time Pro Bowler, has two First Team All-Pro selections, and was named 2019 Defensive Player of the Year.
Adding one of the top cornerbacks in football is certainly a worthy goal for any team, and especially the 2021 Cowboys. After failing to re-sign Byron Jones last year and losing Chidobe Awuzie in March, Dallas is down to Trevon Diggs, Jourdan Lewis, Anthony Brown, and some shaky options right now on the CB depth chart.
Obviously none of these guys have Gilmore’s accolades. As high as we are on Diggs’ potential, it may still be a year or two before he realizes it fully. Brown and Lewis are nothing more than journeymen at this point; at best we want them as the third CB on the roster.
So yes, adding Gilmore would be lovely on paper. But the fine print tell us that he turns 31 in September, missed five games last year with a partial quad tear, and has $7 million in base salary that Dallas would have to account for on their cap. He also only has one year left on that contract, meaning he could hit unrestricted free agency in 2022.
Those are the mitigating factors. None of them are deal breakers; the Cowboys could massage some other contracts to create the cap space needed. But they are reasons why Dallas may not leap at the chance to add Gilmore, or at least not be willing to give the Patriots much value in return.
According to the standard chart for draft pick value, the difference between Dallas’ 10th pick and New England’s 15th pick on Thursday night is 250 points. That is the equivalent of an early 3rd-round pick.
That might be enough for the Patriots. Their desire to move up in the draft is likely linked to needing a quarterback, and if someone they want falls to 10th then discarding Gilmore to make that happen might suffice. I doubt they would ask for anything back in exchange.
The bigger question is if that’s enough for the Cowboys. Is a potential one-year rental of Gilmore, especially with his age and 2020 injury, worth moving down and missing out on a Top-10 draft prospect?
Staying at 10th probably means you draft Jaycee Horn or Patrick Surtain II and hopefully have your own Stephon Gilmore for the next decade. But as we saw with Claiborne, those picks don’t always go your way. And even if they eventually do reach that level, you may have to wait a few years for the maturation process.
If they move to 15th, Dallas could take a chance on Gilmore and still add a significant talent at any number of positions. Any one of OT Christian Darrisaw, CB Caleb Farley, or a number of linebacker and defensive end prospects should be there.
Given the risk they’d be taking on, plus the salary cap hit, Dallas may want more than just Gilmore. The Patriots 96th-overall pick in the 3rd round, or some of their multiple 4th-round picks, could be demanded in the package.
For all we know, 10th may not be high enough for what New England is trying to do. They may be looking to package Gilmore and even greater draft capital to get past Dallas’ pick.
But if it helps the Patriots land their QB of choice, trading picks with the Cowboys could wind up making sense for both groups. A healthy Stephon Gilmore could be a huge boost to Dallas defense in 2021, but there would be a lot of factors to consider for the Cowboys to ultimately take that gamble.
