Stephon Gilmore Contract | 2017 NFL Free Agent | Buffalo Bills
HT: 6-1 WT: 190 Age: 26 Seasons: 5
Status: UFA
Buffalo Bills Cap Space (Top 51): $23.3M (Spotrac)
Stephon Gilmore Scouting Report
Positives
Great size and strength for the position. 4.4 speed. Excels at the line of scrimmage when he can get into a WR’s face, press and reroute them. At the line, he has the ability to use his strength and length to win before the play starts. He can turn and run with receivers as well, staying on their hips and making plays on the football.
Negatives
Despite interceptions totals, 2016 wasn’t his best year. Has had mixed results in his career. Was beat too often, especially when asked to play off the ball or in zone facing the quarterback. Hasn’t played a full season since his rookie year, missed time with wrist fracture (2013), hip/groin injuries (2014) and a torn labrum (2015).
Stephon Gilmore Statistics
- Best season: 12 games, 26 tackles, 18 PD, 3 INT
- Career Statistics: 68 games, 197 tackles, 62 PD, 14 INT, 3 FF, FR, 4 TFL
Stephon Gilmore Player Comparables
Statistical Comparison
Here are the annual averages for each player two years prior to signing his contract. Gilmore paces the field in both interceptions and passes defensed.
Contract Comparison
The 2017 salary cap-adjusted average per year is $14.2 million.
Stephon Gilmore Leverage
Josh Norman had a breakout season during his contract year, albeit he was the best cornerback in football in 2015. After the Panthers rescinded their franchise tag on Norman, the Redskins made him the highest paid cornerback in the NFL. Janoris Jenkins had the advantage of the open market, and the aggressive but inconsistent Rams’ cornerback cashed in with the Giants. Darius Slay had quietly become one of the league’s better cover men and signed a contract last summer.
Gilmore has been far more consistent that either Jenkins or Norman in the early stages of their careers but has certainly had his ups and downs. Gilmore never had the season Norman did in 2015, but he has put the clamps on some of the league’s best receivers off in small-market Buffalo. The 2017 NFL Draft has a strong cornerback class, but that shouldn’t affect his dollars or cents like it should the running back market.
Stephon Gilmore Reservation Price
Given that Slay didn’t would have had to play another season (and perhaps a franchise tag) before reaching free agency, Gilmore shouldn’t receive less than $12-million per. In today’s NFL, cover corners are worth just about their weight in gold. In free agency, good players get paid like great players. Gilmore is a good cornerback. A+B=C.
Projection: 5 years, $68.75M; $13.75M AVG, $27.75M FG
Stephon Gilmore’s Contract Structure**
*Contract information from Over The Cap, Spotrac, Pro Football Talk, and/or other sources.
*Statistics from Pro Football Reference
**Contract structures are based on 2016 team’s tendencies.
