Albert Breer discusses what other teams might be willing to give up if the Patriots end up trading Stephon Gilmore.
If the Patriots are talking to other teams about a trade involving Stephon Gilmore, Bill Belichick isn't going to let us know.
Asked in his Wednesday morning Webex call with reporters if he planned to have Gilmore on the roster after next week's trade deadline, he said he "didn't know anything" about the reports stating that the Patriots have had conversations in the past about dealing their No. 1 corner.
Albert Breer of The MMQB told our "Pregame Live" program over the weekend that in the spring and summer, the Patriots were gauging the market on Gilmore.
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Curran: If Pats are deadline sellers, Gilmore could go
In five games this season, Gilmore has allowed 15 catches for 209 yards and two scores, according to Pro Football Focus. His 13.9 yards per reception is 50th among corners who've played at least 250 snaps and his 100.9 quarterback rating allowed is 48th. He's also tied for ninth among players at his position with four penalties.
Among 69 qualifying corners, he's 28th in PFF's yards-per-coverage-snap metric (1.09) and he's 51st in coverage snaps per target (8.0). His yards per coverage snap are essentially flat since his Defensive Player of the Year campaign in 2019 (1.08), but teams are targeting him more often as he had a snaps-per-target number of 6.0. His rating allowed has jumped from 47.4 last year.
When asked if he saw teams going after Gilmore more often, Belichick noted Gilmore was often in single-coverage but that he didn't see a larger share of targets "going to any one particular guy."
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In coverage, Belichick has been happy with Gilmore's performance.
"Great. Great. Steph works hard," Belichick said. "He's always ready to go. Changes up what he does based on our game plan, who we're matched up against, the team we're playing that particular week. He's a very flexible player that understands what we're trying to do and how it all fits together and works hard to do his part in it."
The NFL trade deadline is next Tuesday afternoon. If the Patriots are going to be sellers, Gilmore would figure to be their most valuable piece to deal away.
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