Why did the New England Patriots release star cornerback Stephen Gilmore? 

The New England Patriots released star cornerback Stephon Gilmore in a surprise move Wednesday.

The relationship between the team and the player had been affected for some time after Gilmore held out for most of the offseason demanding a new contract, and the Patriots held firm on their policy not to give him a raise for the last year of his contract. Although Gilmore's quality is undeniable - he was the NFL's Defensive Player of the Year in 2019 - he's 31-years old and is coming back from a major injury.

It's not the first time that the Patriots have either let one of their superstars leave or suddenly released them. New England, specifically Bill Belichick, is known for not making personal ties with players, no matter how good they are. If Belichick feels that a player is no longer worth his price tag, he has no problem cutting ties with him.

Why did the Patriots release Stephon Gilmore?

Gilmore's relationship with the Patriots was relatively short, but a successful one.

The cornerback signed a five-year contract with the team in 2017 in what was a rare move by New England, a team that's historically known for not paying superstars in the market. Gilmore, however, was an exception.The cornerback was originally drafted by the Buffalo Bills and Belichick had to game plan against him twice per season, as the Bills are a division opponent.

Super Bowl LIII - New England Patriots v Los Angeles Rams

Gilmore became an even better player within Belichick's defensive system. His job was to travel with and defend the opponent's primary receiver every week in man-to-man coverage.

Stephon is a cornerback who's skilled enough to mirror every receiver route and athletic enough to make plays on the ball. He grabbed a league-high six interceptions in 2019.

But after Gilmore's third season, when he was considered the best defensive player in the league, his contract received no adjustment. The Patriots were short on the salary cap at the time, which made it difficult to sign key players, including Tom Brady. This made it difficult to provide Gilmore with a salary that was commensurate with his performance on the field.

But in 2021, the situation was entirely different. The Patriots shed more than $160 million in guaranteed money in free agency this year, and Gilmore had only a $7 million base salary this season.

And according to Adam Schefter, the Patriots are currently only $54,000 under the salary cap and they wanted to use some of this money to re-sign former Patriots linebacker Jamie Collins, who was recently released by the Lions.

Gilmore was asked to restructure his contract, but the star cornerback understood his value and knew that he would make more money being released in lieu of restructuring with the Patriots.

He demanded a raise and held out of the minicamp - he also didn't report for OTAs, but since it's a non-obligatory activity, it's not considered a holdout.

Belichick surely wasn't delighted about one of his players holding out. Historically, that's not something that works out for players who choose this route. Former Patriots guard Logan Mankins was away from the team for the first eight games of the 2010 season hoping for a contract extension.

He reported to the team with the same contract before the week 12 deadline and signed a new deal in March of the following season.

Gilmore is healthy, but was on the PUP list until week 6

The biggest problem for the cornerback to remain with the team is that the Patriots wanted to give him a raise to keep him, but wanted to first see him on the field. According to reports, Gilmore is now healthy, but since he's on the PUP list, he couldn't play until Week 6.

The Patriots are now 1-3 and their season is going south quickly. To end the friction between the team and Gilmore, Belichick decided to move on from him and remain with what is already available. Gilmore can now sign a bigger contract elsewhere in the market.

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