The Buffalo Bills drafted cornerback stephon gilmore with the 10th overall pick in the 2012 NFL draft. Since then, he's been an above average NFL cornerback and made the Pro Bowl for the first time in his career this season. But Gilmore is an impending free agent, and it will be difficult for Buffalo to keep him around when they have so little cap space. There are a few things for the Bills to consider here.
Asking Price.
Stephon Gilmore is reportedly seeking $14 million a year in compensation in what would likely be a long term deal. Prior to the 2016 season, Gilmore was offered just $10.5 million per year by the Bills.
Now that Buffalo has such a small amount of cap space, it will be difficult to sign a player like Gilmore to a long term deal for the kind of money that he is asking for. Gilmore's five interception year likely raised the asking price a bit, but there were plenty of bad plays to go with the good ones as well. Still, his performance was good enough for him to draw some interest from other NFL teams.
Chicago Bears Interest.
There is perhaps no better team or landing spot in the NFL than the Chicago Bears than Stephon Gilmore. He would join a losing team, but he would also get the money requested. The Bears have a whopping $53 million in cap space to spend and could definitely use an upgrade at cornerback, where they were consistently burned all season.
He would also fit right into Vic Fangio's defense, which uses an effective combination of man and zone to stifle opposing wide receivers.
Cornerback Salaries
The highest paid cornerback in the NFL is Josh Norman at $15,000,000 per year. Darrelle Revis, Patrick Peterson, and Richard Sherman are all paid at least $14,000,000 a year.
Is Stephon Gilmore really a top five cornerback? Does he command the type of money that he is asking for? Most Bills fans would say no. Gilmore was repeatedly burned in one on one situations in 2016 and many saw the flaws in his game. Would it really be worth it to keep him around?
What Should Bills do?
At his asking price, there's no way that Buffalo would be able to sign him.
They simply don't have the cap space or the resources to sign a player for that amount of money each year. If Gilmore were willing to take a "hometown discount," the Bills might be able to consider it. But it's highly unlikely and the Bills will likely be looking to add a new cornerback in 2017 to replace the man who wants to be paid like a top five cornerback in the NFL.
