Patriots Rumors: Stephon Gilmore Not at Mandatory Minicamp amid Contract Holdout
June 14, 2021
The New England Patriots were missing an important face for the start of minicamp Monday.
NFL Network's Ian Rapoport said cornerback Stephon Gilmore wasn't in attendance Monday morning, while Mike Garafolo of NFL Network added that the star plans to sit out for the duration of minicamp.
If he follows through with a three-day holdout, Gilmore would be fined a total of $93,085, according to ESPN's Mike Reiss. He will be charged $15,515 for skipping out Monday.
The South Carolina product has not participated in voluntary activities this year, per Reiss.
Gilmore is in the last year of a five-year, $65 million deal with a $7 million base salary, according to Spotrac. That base figure is tied with Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Joe Haden for seventh in the league.
Two Miami Dolphins cornerbacks earn the most at the position in terms of base salary. Byron Jones leads at $14 million with Xavien Howard behind him, earning $12.1 million for the 2021 season.
However, Gilmore's $16.2 million cap hit is the highest among cornerbacks.
Per Reiss, the Patriots knew they needed to act when Gilmore was named the Defensive Player of the Year in 2019, and they adjusted his contract to move $4.5 million in base salary from 2021 to 2020. But they appear to be at an impasse with the 30-year-old, who only appeared in 11 games last season while dealing with a partially torn quad and a positive test for COVID-19.
That Gilmore is still on the team is somewhat surprising, as there was speculation at the trade deadline that he would be on the move. Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports reported in March that "most GMs have considered it a foregone conclusion" that he would be out of New England, though Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated said his quad injury limited interest.
Head coach Bill Belichick told reporters that weather and travel arrangements could have affected the attendance rate at Gillette Stadium.