Patriots at Panthers: Facing the Wrath of Gilmore?

The ‘game within the game’ this Sunday may also include a checkers match.

Or, perhaps in Bill Belichick’s case, maybe it’s a chess match.  And sitting across the table – or the field, in this instance – ready to pounce on any and every perceived slight, mistake or poor move, is Grand Master cornerback and erstwhile NFL Defensive Player of the Year, Stephon Gilmore.

Now employed by the Carolina Panthers.

You’ll recall, of course, Gilmore was once under the Patriots’ employ.  Won a Super Bowl, as well as that DPOY award in New England.  He was hurt during the last season and spent time rehabbing his injury…as a Patriot.

And then along the way, decided he didn’t like the way he was being treated by his employers.  His reasoning: “I just didn’t like how they handled my situation, my injury,” was what Gilmore told reporters earlier this week.  “A lot went on that I didn’t agree with.”

Certainly, some of what didn’t agree with had little (or nothing) to do with his rehabbing an injured quad…and more with the fact he felt he was woefully underpaid at his position.

“That’s a reason, too,” when pressed by reporters.  “But a lot goes into it.  It’s not just one specific thing.  At the end of the day, it’s a business.”

On that point, we can agree.  But Gilmore’s reasoning misses a bigger point.  Business is a two-way street, and not just a one-way deal.  Business also includes integrity, and the fact he already had a contract with New England – again, one he had SIGNED previously – certainly indicates he was agreeable to the terms of that deal at one time.

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But once he realized the Patriots were going to hold him to those terms?  What contract?

“Ooh, my arm!  It’s broken!” said in my best Rodney Dangerfield impersonation.  Or in this case, it was his quad.  Whatever.

Forgive me if this seems less than honorable.  But…it is what it is.  Pro football is a business.  Pro football is full of back-and-forth, and sometimes less-than-agreeable terms on either side of a deal.  But why doesn’t a signature on a contract mean anything anymore?  Shouldn’t it?

Think you could get away with whining about a signed deal with your boss at work, and force a trade to a competitor?  Sure, the Patriots could have held their ground here.  After all, knowing he was about to enter free agency in the off-season means Gilmore knew he had to play somewhere in order to show he was still capable of earning a big-money deal.

He simply whined his way out of New England.  That’s usually not the ‘Patriot Way.’  It’s also doesn’t dignify someone who once roamed the secondary like few have before him.  The Patriots decided not to deal with it, and maybe they should have.

They gave him up to Carolina – a team they knew they’d be facing later in the season – for a measly Day 3 draft pick, in 2023.

Did the Patriots know what they had – or didn’t have?  Did they know what they were doing?  Or did Gilmore have a legit beef, contract or no contract?

The game of checkers (or chess, perhaps) within the football match Sunday has an added sideshow.  Who makes the next move, and who gets crowned ‘king’ on this deal?