Bills FA CB Stephon Gilmore signs 5-year deal w/New England

TommyBrady12 said:

I think if BB offered malcolm 14 million per year malcolm would have jumped. He clearly thinks gilmore is a number 1 corner and better than MB.

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Not necessarily. He clearly thinks they are comparable but if you sign Butler to an extension you don't have any tradable assets. Signing Gilmore allows Belichick to (potentially) trade Butler for a cheap and productive contract. Belichick is (potentially) saying Gilmore plus Cooks is better than Butler. Not Gilmore is better than Butler alone.

maineman209 said:

How do you figure TWO first round picks?

They're basically trading Butler for Cooks and moving down 10 spots in the draft in that scenario.

I understand how a lot of folks are focused on Cooks' deep threat potential, but I see him more as a (one year early) replacement for Amendola/Edelman in the slot role with his deep speed being a bonus. I'm not sure how that cuts into Mitchell's potential snaps unless he seems destined to move into the slot role himself. Personally, I see Mitchell as more an X/Z type than Y.

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Because Butler, as an RFA, is worth a 1st round pick.. Then you add the #32 pick. You get two 1st rounders.. It's not that hard to understand.. Maybe it is since it requires having the basic concept of Algebra.. BTW, Most everyone on this board understands that Butler is worth more than Brandon Cooks.. Significantly more.. So the idea that the Pats are giving up more to get Cooks is stupid.

Having Cooks isn't worth hurting Mitchell's development. Who cares what "you see Mitchell as". That doesn't mean a damn thing. The Patriots receivers are required to be able to play all 3. This is well known. Mitchell lined up outside and in the slot at different times last year.

Of course you don't see how it cuts into Mitchell's snaps. Because you don't get the idea that the Pats aren't going to take Edelman off the field in favor of Cooks.. So they would have to take Mitchell.

strngplyr said:

Actually I though the Pats threw in the extra pick to make it a trade and avoid the extension for a year?

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They threw in the extra pick and make it a trade because they'd put a poison pill in it that would have made it impossible at the time for Miami to match. Miami went to the league about the poison pill and the league told them to "Work it out" so the Pats offered the 7th in lieu of the poison pill.

Not sure where you get the "avoid the extension for a year" because Miami wasn't going to be able to match the offer at all..

Gilmore, Butler, Rowe are a tantalizing top 3. Hopefully the two Joneses can take that 2nd year leap and give this team quality options vs spread formations.

As to be expected, Felger poo pooing the Gilmore signing..."You scored 52, 35, 40, 28 against Gilmore's defenses!"

sevengables_2207 said:

Gilmore, Butler, Rowe are a tantalizing top 3. Hopefully the two Joneses can take that 2nd year leap and give this team quality options vs spread formations.

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So you are playing Butler inside ? Because Rowe can't do that.

With the additions of Rowe and Gilmore, patriots now have two corners at 6'1". Looks like BB has a plan in place for the big WRs of today's NFL. Gilmore is a tall long corner who excels in man coverage.

luuked said:

So you are playing Butler inside ? Because Rowe can't do that.

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I think if we go into the season with our current corners, it'll be highly matchup-specific, but in general Butler and Gilmore will cover the outside receivers with Rowe backing them up, while one of the Joneses will primarily handle slot guys. But that would probably be highly matchup-specific, and there are lots of teams whose WR corps would lend well to having Butler in the slot.

Basically, I guess we could look at this as insurance to make sure that we're not just one injury away from Cyrus Jones or Justin Coleman playing on the outside.

robertweathers said:

I don't think BB sees it as a 2 for 1.

It is clear as day to me that BB sees Gilmore as a superior player than Malcolm.

If he thought Malcolm was a better, more talented player in this system Gilmore would not be coming to NE.

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I disagree, we have no idea what has been going on between Butler and the Patriots but by signing Gilmore they protect CB and create a trade opportunity, whereas the Saints clearly didnt want the #32 they may well have put this in motion by asking for Butler, which pherein brought up a couple of days ago. Belichick may have seen the opportunity to replace Butler while using him as a chip, which gives them the two for one and doesn't cost their first round pick.

We may never know but we should at least have a better idea in a day or so.

BradyFTW! said:

I think if we go into the season with our current corners, it'll be highly matchup-specific, but in general Butler and Gilmore will cover the outside receivers with Rowe backing them up, while one of the Joneses will primarily handle slot guys. But that would probably be highly matchup-specific, and there are lots of teams whose WR corps would lend well to having Butler in the slot.

Basically, I guess we could look at this as insurance to make sure that we're not just one injury away from Cyrus Jones or Justin Coleman playing on the outside.

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Gotcha. I just misread your listing as a depth chart implying that Rowe (as #3) would play slot.

EDIT: Nevermind, thought you were the OP that I quoted. Anyway.. point stands that out of Gilmore, Butler and Rowe only Butler can play inside.

luuked said:

So you are playing Butler inside ? Because Rowe can't do that.

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I'm not playing anybody anywhere because I am not a NEP coach.

Now that you mention it, it does seem a bit redundant. Could be that they are shipping Butler out. But based on what they currently have, Butler inside makes the most sense because he is the better tackler and the most physical of the 3. The other option is the make Rowe more of a backup to either outside CB. I would have thought perhaps Rowe as a safety before the news that Harmon was coming back.

Anyways, it is all just speculation from those of us with far less knowledge than the coaches/personnel/scouts inside Gillette.

TommyBrady12 said:

I think if BB offered malcolm 14 million per year malcolm would have jumped. He clearly thinks gilmore is a number 1 corner and better than MB.

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They weren't going to pay him a year early unless it was a good deal for them, 14 per isnt a good deal for a RFA.

Ivan said:

I disagree, we have no idea what has been going on between Butler and the Patriots but by signing Gilmore they protect CB and create a trade opportunity, whereas the Saints clearly didnt want the #32 they may well have put this in motion by asking for Butler, which pherein brought up a couple of days ago. Belichick may have seen the opportunity to replace Butler while using him as a chip, which gives them the two for one and doesn't cost their first round pick.

We may never know but we should at least have a better idea in a day or so.

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I'm believing the rumors that Malcolm wanted top tier CB money and BB wasn't willing to give it to him.

With that said, I agree BB had the foresight to see the opportunity to acquire a very good WR and is putting himself in a position to do just that.

robertweathers said:

I'm believing the rumors that Malcolm wanted top tier CB money and BB wasn't willing to give it to him.

With that said, I agree BB had the foresight to see the opportunity to acquire a very good WR and is putting himself in a position to do just that.

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I agree, if they keep Butler I'm fine with it but I really like Cooks game. Many here are thinking he's a slot but he's a wideout who can go inside if needed. He can burn teams at every level.

BobDigital said:

Yeah but Butler about the 5th best CB and Cooks is about the 20th best WR..

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where the hell did you come up with this?

robertweathers said:

I'm believing the rumors that Malcolm wanted top tier CB money and BB wasn't willing to give it to him.

With that said, I agree BB had the foresight to see the opportunity to acquire a very good WR and is putting himself in a position to do just that.

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the math is simple

would you rather have butler or gilmore and cooks?

I'll take gilmore and cooks

Ivan said:

I agree, if they keep Butler I'm fine with it but I really like Cooks game. Many here are thinking he's a slot but he's a wideout who can go inside if needed. He can burn teams at every level.

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IllegalContact said:

the math is simple

would you rather have butler or gilmore and cooks?

I'll take gilmore and cooks

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I'll be honest....I'm torn.

Having both Gilmore and Malcolm at CB has me more giddy than Cooks catching balls from Tom.

I'm not necessarily convinced Gilmore is better than Malcolm but BB seems to be.

With that said, with the rumors around Malcolm's signability and the foresight of JE11 being a FA in 2018 and DAs age, I get why they would do this deal.

robertweathers said:

I'll be honest....I'm torn.

Having both Gilmore and Malcolm at CB has me more giddy than Cooks catching balls from Tom.

With that said, with the rumors around Malcolm's signability and the foresight of JE11 being a FA in 2018 and DAs age, I get why they would do this deal.

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Could surprise everyone and extend Butler and still trade draft picks for Cooks.

strngplyr said:

Could surprise everyone and extend Butler and still trade draft picks for Cooks.

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Thats a lot of $ at CB. It would be the 1st time in BB history to have two highly paid players in the same positional grouping.

Needless to say it would shock the hell out of me.

Keep them both for this yr. I think there are ample WR/TE/RB targets for TB don't need Cooks. I'd rather have the sick secondary of Butler, Gilmore, McCourty and Chung.