Could worlds collide this week for the Buffalo Bills?
On Sunday, the Bills (5-2) will host the New England Patriots (2-4). It’s a big game on the docket for both as Buffalo wants to put a stranglehold on their AFC East lead while New England tries to stay afloat.
But the other big storyline this week is the trade deadline, which takes place on Tuesday. The Bills could be in the market to add some help, especially defensively.
But could the remedy seriously be Pats cornerback Stephon Gilmore… the former Bill himself? We’ve got one on the board who makes that case, and it’s our friend Doug Farrar over at the NFL Wire:
Per Albert Breer of the MMQB, the Patriots have been toying with the idea of trading the reigning Defensive Player of the Year since March, and given New England’s current seller status, it certainly could happen. Trading Gilmore to a division rival seems impossible until you remember that Bill Belichick cut safety Lawyer Milloy in 2003, and Milloy then signed with the Bills. Gilmore, of course, played for the Bills from 2012 through 2016 before the Patriots signed him to a five-year, $65 million contract in 2017. Gilmore has been great in New England’s man-heavy offense, but his performance has dropped a bit in 2020 — he’s allowed two passing touchdowns and an opponent passer rating of 100.9. In 2019, he gave up just one passing touchdown all season and allowed an opponent passer rating of 48.0. This would be another situation in which the receiving team would have to move some money to get it done — Gilmore’s 2020 and 2021 cap hits are pretty severe — but perhaps Gilmore could thrive in a secondary with cornerback Tre’Davious White, the man who replaced him as Buffalo’s best cornerback.
Thinking of Gilmore and White in one secondary? Wow, that’s tempting. The Bills have had their struggles all over the field defensively in 2020. The big problem for Buffalo has been run defense, but a move for Gilmore could help there, too. The Bills do play a zone-heavy scheme, but there’s no reason why Sean McDermott could not play more man coverage when you have the likes of Gilmore and White… both of whom represented the AFC as All-Pros just last season. In doing that, the Bills could add more bodies to the equation in regard to filling holes against the running game.
But as mentioned by TD Wire, the Bills would have to move plenty of dollars around to make such a move work, so it seems unlikely. Gilmore has a $25.2 million cap hit this season, which does drop down to $17.2M in a year. That, plus a guy like Josh Norman will be then off the books. In the immediate Gilmore might have to restructure things for Buffalo or whoever his new team is.
Despite the unlikelihood of such a deal taking place within the division for such a high-profile player… on can’t really deny it. A duo of Gilmore and White on the Bills would be some video game-level of insanity.
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