Gilmore's Still Got More
Stephon Gilmore's career looked like it was coming to an end back in 2021. After winning the Super Bowl with the Patriots in 2018 and then winning Defensive Player of the Year in 2019, he finished 2020 with a quadriceps injury and opened the 2021 season on the Physically Unable to Perform list. By October of that year, the 31 year old defensive back was traded to the Carolina Panthers for a sixth round draft pick (which was later used to draft Kayshon Boutte). Cornerback careers are notorious for coming to sudden ends at a certain age, especially after lower body injuries. The speed that is essential to their position doesn't always fully return, and without the ability to keep up with younger receivers, their drop off is usually pretty steep. Most players in Gilmore's position would quietly fade out of the league within a year or two of that injury and subsequent trade. Instead, Gilmore beat the odds. He recovered from his quad injury and in t...