Stephon Gilmore is staying in the AFC East, as he will reportedly join the defending champion New England Patriots on a five-year, $70 million deal.
Gilmore played his first four seasons with the Buffalo Bills, and became a free agent after Buffalo declined his $11 million fifth year option. The Bills also chose not to use the franchise tag on Gilmore, which would have paid him $14.2 million for 2017.
Gilmore finished last season with a career-best five interceptions and earned his first Pro Bowl selection.
According to Pro Football Focus, a metrics site that ranks players by position, Gilmore is coming off a sub-par season. The site had Gilmore ranked as the 82nd best cornerback through the first eight weeks of 2016. After a rough outing in a week 8 loss to New England, he bounced back, climbing to 61st among cornerbacks by season’s end.
The 10th overall pick in the 2012 draft, Gilmore has made 66 starts in five seasons and has 14 career interceptions.
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