Stephon Gilmore retires a Patriot on a one-day contract
The 2019 Defensive Player of the Year chose the four seasons in New England over the five in Buffalo, and named the two plays he wants to be remembered by.
Gilmore signs a one-day contract to retire in New England
The bottom line: Gilmore returned to Foxborough on Friday to sign a one-day contract and retire as a member of the Patriots, the Associated Press reported. He had announced his retirement in April in an Instagram post without saying which team he would retire with.
The details:
- Gilmore played for six teams: the Bills (2012-16), Patriots (2017-20), Panthers (2021), Colts (2022), Cowboys (2023) and Vikings (2024). His longest stay was the five years in Buffalo; he chose the four in New England.
- He last played in 2024, making 15 starts for Minnesota, and did not play in 2025.
- New England signed him out of free agency in 2017 on a five-year, $65 million contract.
- ESPN’s Mike Reiss reported the return ahead of the announcement.
- Gilmore turned 36 on Saturday.
Why New England: “I had great early years in my career, but I think once I came to New England I really grew into myself,” Gilmore said. He credited veterans he played alongside, naming Tom Brady, Julian Edelman, Patrick Chung and the McCourty twins, and coach Bill Belichick.
“It started, really, in practice. My practice habits got better,” Gilmore said. “Seeing how those guys worked in practice. Bill [Belichick] was always on me … and it carried over to the game.” He added: “I had my best years here. I learned a lot here. I wouldn’t be the person I am today if I didn’t come to this franchise. That’s why I chose New England.”
What a former opponent said: Mike Vrabel, now the Patriots coach, was coaching Tennessee when the Titans knocked New England out in the wild-card round following the 2019 season. “Never looked too stressed. I think that was always a thing: He just always looked smooth and under control,” Vrabel said. “Yeah, we didn’t throw for many yards that game.”
On why he stopped: “I think I could play. But, it’s just how I would feel after, honestly,” Gilmore said. “Trying to get to Sunday, that was the hard part for me. … It was hard for me to go out there and not be the player I want to be.”
The two plays he picked
The bottom line: Asked at his press conference for his favorite play as a Patriot, Gilmore named two, Patriots Wire reported: a fourth-down pass breakup in the AFC Championship Game and the interception that sealed a Super Bowl.
The AFC Championship Game, January 2018: Gilmore broke up a pass in the fourth quarter on fourth down against Jacksonville, sending New England to the Super Bowl. He said it was hard to separate the two plays, and that he thinks this was the best single play he made.
Super Bowl LIII: Gilmore made a leaping interception of a Jared Goff throw with 4:13 left, taking the ball over Rams receiver Brandin Cooks. New England won 13-3. The pick set up the Patriots to take a two-score lead.
Winning Super Bowl LIII was his favorite memory with the team, he said.
What four seasons in Foxborough produced
The bottom line: Gilmore was a two-time first-team All-Pro and, in 2019, the first player in Patriots history named NFL Defensive Player of the Year.
The details:
- He earned the first of two straight AP All-Pro selections in 2018 and made three Pro Bowls as a Patriot. Across 13 seasons he was a five-time Pro Bowl selection.
- In 2019 he led the NFL with a career-high six interceptions, two returned for touchdowns, and had a career-high 20 pass breakups in both 2018 and 2019.
- Patriots Wire charted that 2019 season further: Gilmore was targeted 101 times, allowed 51 completions and gave up no touchdowns.
- That defense finished first in the NFL in total defense at 275.9 yards a game, the first time in franchise history, and led the league by allowing 14.1 points a game, according to the team’s release reported by Yahoo Sports.
- In 56 games for New England he recorded 11 interceptions, 52 pass breakups, 85 tackles and three tackles for loss.
The career totals: Gilmore finishes with 32 interceptions and 149 pass breakups in 180 games, 173 of them starts, per The Athletic. He recorded at least one interception in every one of his 13 seasons. Buffalo drafted him 10th overall in 2012 out of South Carolina, and he started all 16 games as a rookie.
How rare the award is: Gilmore was the first true cornerback to win Defensive Player of the Year since Deion Sanders in 1994, The Athletic noted. Charles Woodson won it in 2009 playing a combination of cornerback and safety, and Pat Surtain II became the next cornerback to do so in 2024.
How it ended in New England: A season-ending quad injury in 2020 closed out his Patriots career, and he was traded to Carolina during the 2021 season.
Also: Gonzalez, Brown and a future in coaching
Gilmore singled out two current players. On cornerback Christian Gonzalez: “He’s a great player. He’s very quiet, kind of like I was, but having his business on the field. He’s a great talent. He’s got good size, too, for a corner. I think he’s gonna have a great career.” On A.J. Brown, who he lined up against and who is on injured reserve: Gilmore called him “a great player” who “doesn’t get enough credit for how good of a player he is.”
He said he would be open to coaching. “I love the game. Eventually, I think I can get into coaching, because I still know a lot about the game,” Gilmore said. “But right now I’m enjoying the family.”
Our take
Put him in the Hall of Fame.
The case against is the counting stats. Thirty-two interceptions in 13 seasons doesn’t campaign for itself, and the New England peak was four years out of six stops. But cornerback is the one position where the box score is the worst evidence you can reach for. In 2019, quarterbacks threw at Gilmore 101 times, completed 51 of them and scored zero touchdowns. That kind of season shows up as an absence rather than a total.
Peak beats accumulation here, and the peak is on the record. First true cornerback to win Defensive Player of the Year since Deion Sanders in 1994. First Patriot ever to win it. First-team All-Pro in back-to-back seasons, the first of which he closed out himself with 4:13 on the clock.
Four years is short. It was also long enough to produce the two best defensive plays of that Patriots era: the fourth-down breakup in Jacksonville and the leap in front of Brandin Cooks. The Hall of Fame isn’t a volume award. Vote him in.