Stephon Gilmore Goes To … The Panthers

October 6th, 2021

The dream for many Bucs fans is over.

Word broke this morning that Patriots All-Pro cornerback Stephon Gilmore was done with the Belichates. And now it’s official; he’s a Stinkin’ Panthers corner.

All it cost was a 2023 sixth-round pick, per ProFootballTalk.com.

Carolina is not messing around after starting 3-0 and falling to 3-1. The Bucs play Carolina in Weeks 16 & 18.

52 Responses to “Stephon Gilmore Goes To … The Panthers”

  1. Robert Says:

    good. we did not need him. develop what we have and draft one next yr.

  2. IrishMist Says:

    You know the Bucs would have offered more. This is Belichick saying F you to Brady.

  3. Duane Says:

    Bill being spiteful. Of course we offered more than a sixth rounder.

  4. Jerry Says:

    Going to have to roll with what we got for the next month and hopefully get some guys back after the bye.
    Brady should be able outscore the next 3 or 4 opponents. And the DL needs to get pressure and help the secondary out.

  5. Bucdan Says:

    Panthers putting a defense together to stop the high powered passing teams in the NFL, specifically NFC: Seahawks, Bucs, Packers, Rams. Those and any other teams that rely on their QBs to keep them in games when all else fails. Panthers just had best run defense prior to Cowboys (good offense) went H.A.M. With Zeke and friends.

    I’d say that defense in the NFC is a shot at the playoffs (rest of the team has to play well and win games of course). Coach Rhule putting in work.

  6. The Beer Whisper Says:

    Gilmore is dealing with a quad injury, and can’t even play.
    It’s like buying a pick-up, that don’t run.

  7. zzbuc Says:

    We couldn´t afford him… IMO there was never a chance…..

  8. Ash Says:

    I didn’t think it was gonna happen anyways hope Davis comes back soon hopefully just a muscle pull and not a tear

  9. BA4President Says:

    I agree with @IrishMist.

    We just need to stack as many W’s as we can until the bye week, and hopefully we will have most of our corners back.

  10. Ryan K Says:

    Carolina is overrated. They faced a real team last week and got smoked. Not worried about it at all. This is the time for Bucs to deal with injuries, we should win the next 3.

  11. Lets Roll Says:

    Panthers got an aging, once good CB that is coming off injury and suspension. We got an aging HOF CB coming off his couch because.

    Well, cause, thats just what GOATS do. They get pick of the litter.

    Good luck in NC once you come of the bad boy list to losing team dude. That is if your willing to even play for them and not get paid.

  12. Jerry Says:

    We can’t afford his current contract under the cap, so we couldn’t trade for him. Our only shot would have been if he hit free agency. The Panthers made sure that didn’t happen.

  13. Bucs Win Says:

    Damn!t

  14. SlyPirate Says:

    You know multiple teams offered better than a 6th. Why pick Carolina?

    Love you, TB12. Wishing you all the best.
    Sincerely,
    Bill Belicheck

  15. Aaron Says:

    It came down to money – on trade you pick up the per game allocation of his base $7m + I think he had a $500k per game bonus in there too.

    Go Bucs!

  16. Drunkinybor Says:

    Ughh. This makes my stomache hurt. Licht was probably offering a 5th but Billy said no. So he gets to hurt Tampa by adding Gilmore to the Panthers and spurns us, that’s gotta give the old mumbler a smile. Bucs will be fine w/o Gilmore but it would be lovely to have added him.

  17. Rob In Land O Lakes Says:

    I’m also relatively Carolina is in a better cap situation to be able to offer him a multi-year deal at some point as opposed to a rental which he would be here.

  18. Bojim Says:

    Have to agree on that Irish.

  19. Buczilla Says:

    Gilmore was easily worth a 4 or 5 to us, so I hope Belichick turned that down from Licht. Otherwise, unless there is some insider knowledge that we are not privy to, Licht done messed up.

  20. Biff Barker Says:

    This is one of the reasons I love Belechick.
    TB12, Gronk and AB was enough. He doesn’t want to hear it if Gilmore helps the Bucs win again.

  21. PassingThru Says:

    Kind of what I suspected: No way would Belichick trade Gilmore. He’s not enabling Brady to get to another Super Bowl. In fact he probably could have gotten more for Gilmore trading him to another team.

  22. Defense Rules Says:

    Bucs were never gonna sign Gilmore (too much money & by the time he comes off IR & learns our defense, our starters will more than likely be back). Sucks (maybe) that the Panthers got him, but perhaps they were the only ones who offered anything to the Pats for his services.

    Gilmore is the quintessential shutdown corner, but he’s not THAT much better than our own Carlton Davis. In 2020 for instance, Davis allowed 61.9% completions (105 targets; 65 completions in 14 games). Gilmore allowed 57.1% completions (49 targets; 28 completions in his 11 games). And oh ya, Gilmore makes more money than our entire Secondary did (his 2020 CAP hit was $23.6 mil; our entire Secondary made $10.0 mil)).

  23. Jw94buc Says:

    Just going to feel even better kicking the panthers ass twice this year!!!

  24. BradyBucs Says:

    “WE NEED TO DEVELOP OUR OWN GUYS” – HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

    WUT?

    I get so tired of fans saying we just need to “continue to develop” our guys. Referring to those like Dean and SMB, who are massive liabilities in coverage.

    That’s like saying we need to just continue to work with our VW Beetle until it can perform like a Ferrari.

    It’s just not going to happen. Dean & SMB are not NFL-quality cover guys on a consistent basis. They get exposed over and over like they did last year. I don’t care that SMB had a lucky run in the playoffs. He’s trash.

    Carlton Davis is far from elite as well, yet no one wants to admt it.

    The Bucs made a major mistake not trying to improve the secondary in the off season.

    The only way this team wins the Super Bowl again is if our Offense finds a way to become nearly FLAWLESS and just blows teams out. Because our Defense isn’t going to be responsible for many wins.

  25. crazyBucs_CL Says:

    i don’t think we have the money, i think we are running out of reconstructing contracts, this was impossible task (financially) for JL. The thing got hyped cause of big mouth of TV 🤡.
    i really was hoping as released free agent. Tom may have convinced him… but with trade is just impossible. Seattle was on the top of the list as well….
    I hope im wrong, but these panthers, this team, is for real.

  26. Sparky Says:

    I doubt we offered anything to the Patriots. By trading for him you’re on the hook for his contract, and we literally do not have the salary cap space. If he had been released we definitely would have made an offer though.

  27. BucsCoolade Says:

    Gilmore is an unknown at this point.

    Some injuries have lasting impacts on a players performance .. as does sitting on his ass out of games for a while..

  28. Robert Says:

    brah, I’ve built Beetles faster than ferarri’s

  29. PassingThru Says:

    I’m sure if Licht asked, a player or two would have restructured their contract. All you had to ask was Tom Brady. The mechanics would be simple: give the Patriots a fourth round pick and tell them to keep Gilmore on the books for one more day. That’s it.

    I am pretty sure Licht reached out, the CB situation is pretty dire. And I’m also sure Licht would have paid much more than a fifth rounder. Gilmore has to play this season, he has to prove that he’s worth one last major contract.

    But you cannot force Bill Belichick to trade with you. The last thing Belichick wants is to further build Brady’s legacy, which will come at the expense of his legacy.

  30. PassingThru Says:

    Epilogue: Gilmore would have been nice. But we really don’t need Gilmore. We need one or two capable CBs, they don’t have to be shutdown CBs. The trade deadline is November 2nd, their will be some marginal teams that will throw in the towel. They might be willing to part with a competent CB at a reasonable price.

  31. PassingThru Says:

    *there

    geez, my typos are out of control

  32. Hodad Says:

    Joe, just ask BA if we even wanted him? The guy is looking to get paid, and is coming off injury. Where were we supposed to get the money even if we did want him? So easy for fans to say, we should do this or, that, but there is a salary cap, and we’re right up against it.

  33. Flyin Dutchman Says:

    nothing to see here, move on, go bucs

  34. Hondo Says:

    Gilmore WAS A NECESSARY signing. Bucs screwed up.

  35. Sandman Says:

    Licht incopetence is glaring when the GM next door have the same issues and fix it easily.

  36. Defense Rules Says:

    BradyBucs … You must’ve been totally amazed that we won the Super Bowl last year with those CBs of ours “who are massive liabilities in coverage”. And yet they got it done. Whodathunkit?

  37. Chris@Apple Roof Cleaning Tampa Says:

    This was all about money, money we just don’t have.

  38. lambeau Says:

    Gilmore grew up and lives near Charlotte–likely he had a say in where he’d go.

  39. Buc4evr Says:

    We don’t have the cap space to pay him his $7M salary this year and I doubt that the Bucs would entertain a big dollar extended deal next year. The Pats sure wouldn’t.

  40. JimmyJack Says:

    I say the jokes on you if you thought the Patriots would even consider trading to the Bucs.

  41. DaBux Says:

    Bleh. But there was no way Bellicheat was going to deal with GM TB12.

  42. adam from ny Says:

    i think we just got belifugged…

    and after a 23 minute meeting with tommy…

    bad humans play games like this

  43. johnny o Says:

    hey kids:i know it would have been nice to add Gilmore but, really, do we need him? we know that Sean, Carlton, and Jamel are due back relatively soon. these guys are good. so is Mr. Sherman. lets be patient, our guys are going to get this train back on track. we need to get momentum for the stretch run. again. GO BUCS!

  44. SB Says:

    Um Yeah to those that didn’t want Gilmore remember that the Panthers already got CJ Henderson out from under us!!!!
    The Stinking Panthers are gonna have one hell of a secondary.

  45. adam from ny Says:

    who cares if we got gilmore…

    but the way bill belichik operates is like an evil genius…

    it’s like he hugged up with tommy after the game and then when tommy walked away he sucker punched him in the back of the head…

    🙂

    that’s a bad bad man…

    bad meaning bad, not bad meaning good

  46. Francisco Guzman Says:

    Bucs secondary needs to get healthy. Also sooner or later you have to be able to play some man or press these wideouts. Zone gets shredded in today’s nfl.

  47. David Says:

    whether the Buccaneers made an offer or not probably all depends on when they think SMB and Dean are returning.

    Regardless, a 6th round pick… That doesn’t add up.
    It really does seem like that is a Bill B spite move against the Bucs and Brady.

    Of course I’m not sure if the Buccaneers had the money, I read his contract would be 7 1/2 mill

  48. Sparky Says:

    @PassingThru
    Brady JUST renegotiated in March, and his cap hit is already down to 9million for this season. Considering a quarter of the season is gone already, that doesn’t leave a lot of room. Same for most of our big hits, we just did all the restructuring to even get into the season. I’m not even sure you’re allowed to renegotiate it this soon. The CBA says only once a year to increase a salary, but I’m not sure if that applies to a restructure also.
    And then factor in that no one knows what Gilmore is going to look like coming off this injury, and the fact that we literally just won a Super Bowl with the secondary we already have.

  49. Sparky Says:

    @David

    cliff’s notes: they don’t have the money.

  50. orlbucfan Says:

    Between the two, I’ll take Sherman. BTW, Cowjerks beat the starch out of Carolina last Sunday, so there’s that. I trust what Licht does.

  51. PassingThru Says:

    @Sparky

    Good points in your post, I appreciate it.

    Gilmore was already playing at a distinctly lower level in 2020 prior to injury, and of course age and surgery should raise questions when he returns. What he’ll bring in 2021 is open to conjecture, but in all likelihood he’ll be better than anyone who is suiting up now.

    I think what killed any trade talk was that Belichick wasn’t going to enable Brady to make another trip to the Super Bowl. Belichick is very concerned about his legacy; success by Brady as erodes his legacy. I firmly believe some of that factored into what happened in New England those final couple of seasons.

  52. Chrizzzbucfan Says:

    Well, yeah, we should sign/trade for good CB to help the situation. We don’t necessarily need a lock down corner. And I agree about not drafting a DB like the previous year (Winfield), we should have gotten a DB instead of the edge rusher. I was certain we would draft a DB but then…lord…now let’s go shopping. We still have about 3 million.