Former New England Patriots star Stephon Gilmore has been chasing his second Lombardi Trophy since leaving Foxborough during the 2021 season. After four very productive seasons in New England, where he won a Defensive Player of the Year award, made three Pro Bowls, earned two All-Pro honors, and won a Super Bowl, Gilmore hasn’t been able to find a permanent home. Following his trade to the Panthers, Gilmore hasn’t played longer than a season in any of his destinations, playing for four teams in four years.

After finishing last season in Minnesota, where he proved he can still make an impact at 34 years old, Gilmore is still looking for his new team five weeks into the 2025 campaign. Fortunately for the veteran cornerback, his odds of landing a new contract just went up significantly.

Stephon Gilmore Is Now the Top Option for Cornerback-Needy Teams

On Wednesday night, the Cleveland Browns traded Greg Newsome II to the Jaguars. Newsome was considered to be the best cornerback expected to be moved on the trade market this season. Now that he is off the block, CB-needy teams will turn their attention to free agents. And Gilmore stands out above the rest in that group.

Kendall Fuller, James Bradberry, Asante Samuel Jr., and Michael Davis are some of the high-profile cornerbacks still unsigned. Despite all of them being younger than Gilmore, they have more health, age-related decline, and performance concerns.

Gilmore could easily make a difference for a team trying to find competent and reliable veteran play at cornerback. He has only missed three games in the last three years and played over 90% of defensive snaps. He logged an impressive 79.1, 74.4, and 63.9 overall defensive grades on Pro Football Focus in those three seasons.

Could he be an option for the Patriots? Their starting cornerback spots are spoken for, but the depth behind Christian Gonzalez and Carlton Davis is dubious. Plus, Gonzalez has had his share of injury concerns to start his career, so having a reliable veteran backup like Gilmore may not be the worst idea.

But New England could have some competition, too. The Detroit Lions’ secondary is banged up, and a contender like Detroit could be an appealing landing spot for Gilmore, who last tasted Super Bowl glory in 2019.

Whether Gilmore wants to have that small of a role and embrace more of a backup/mentor role is unclear. The Patriots realistically won’t make a deep postseason run this season, and Gilmore, entering the twilight of his career, could be prioritizing that above all else. We should have a better idea of what awaits the former Patriot in the final years of his career pretty soon.