Patriots Playing Jalen Mills At CB
The Eagles moved Jalen Mills from cornerback to safety ahead of the 2020 offseason, when they re-signed him to a one-year contract. Mills began his first Patriots offseason at safety, but his new team has shuttled him back to his old job. Devin McCourty and Adrian Phillips‘ early OTAs absences prompted the Pats to use Mills alongside Kyle Dugger at safety. But he spent the team’s final week of OTAs back at corner, Mike Reiss of ESPN.com notes. With Stephon Gilmore holding out, Mills played opposite J.C. Jackson at corner Monday, per Jeff Howe of The Athletic (subscription required). Thirty-four of Mills’ 49 NFL starts have come at corner, including 15 in the Eagles’ 2017 Super Bowl-winning season. Gilmore and the Pats are not believed to be close on an extension, clouding his future with the team and complicating New England’s cornerback outlook.
Stephon Gilmore, Patriots Not Progressing On Extension
Vacillating between trade and extension candidacies, Stephon Gilmore is now a holdout. The All-Pro cornerback did not show for the start of Patriots minicamp, restoring his status as a front-burner offseason item.
As could be expected after Gilmore began a holdout, he and the Patriots do not appear to be close on a new deal. Progress toward a Gilmore extension has proven elusive this offseason, Jeff Howe of The Athletic notes (subscription required). Gilmore is entering the final season of a five-year, $65MM deal, but because the Pats moved $5MM of his 2021 salary to a 2020 pay bump, he is due just $7MM in base pay this year. The Pats planned to discuss his contract months ago, but those talks have not produced a solution.
[RELATED: Gilmore Open To Patriots Extension]
Gilmore’s camp may have identified workable terms, with Howe adding that Darius Slay‘s three-year, $50MM Eagles deal has come up as a comparable contract. The Eagles gave Slay that extension upon trading for him last year. While the per-year average falls below the new cornerback ceiling — raised to $20MM by Jalen Ramsey, with Tre’Davious White and Marlon Humphrey also driving a stagnant market north of $17MM per year — Gilmore is much older than the recently paid group of corners who changed the market.
Slay’s third NFL contract provides a closer comp to Gilmore’s current situation. The former Defensive Player of the Year is going into his age-31 season. Slay, whose resume is less decorated, was 29 when he signed his third NFL contract. The Eagles possessed a greater need at the position when they acquired and extended Slay, while the Patriots have been stingier with big-ticket contracts under Bill Belichick.
The Patriots have continually replaced impact corners without sacrificing much in the way of coverage capabilities, letting Darrelle Revis walk after his age-29 season and opting against paying Logan Ryan and Malcolm Butler big cash as free agents. Of course, New England has altered its usual financial blueprint this year by loading up on veteran talent in free agency. Gilmore’s presence would help the Pats’ quest to return to the playoffs considerably. He is, however, coming off an injury-shortened season. Gilmore suffered a partially torn quad in December.
New England has discussed Gilmore in trades on a few occasions over the past year and change. The Pats wanted a first-round pick for him at the 2020 deadline but did not come especially close to a trade. The prospect of a high-level Gilmore extension likely played into those trade talks. It will be interesting to see if the Patriots can bring the All-Pro cover man back into the fold with another one-season pay raise or if Gilmore is willing to push harder for an extension. Taking the latter route will be difficult, with the 2020 CBA making training camp holdouts tougher to wage.
Patriots’ Stephon Gilmore Skips Mandatory Minicamp
Stephon Gilmore is holding out. The cornerback skipped the start of the Patriots’ minicamp and he’ll be keeping his distance for the full three-day period (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo). 
Gilmore is rehabbing from a partially torn quad, but that’s only part of the story. Gilmore wants a new contract — he’s currently slated to make $7MM in base salary, which puts him outside of the top 20 for his position. Meanwhile, his $16.265MM cap figure is the highest of any corner, thanks to the Patriots’ previous adjustments to his deal. When the two sides were in a similar spot last year, the Pats agreed to accelerate $4.5MM of his pay.
The Pats inked Gilmore to a five-year, $65MM deal in 2017. That was a whopping contract at the time for the historically stingy Patriots, but it’s proven to be one of the best values in the entire league. Gilmore was named the Defensive Player of the Year in 2019. Meanwhile, Jalen Ramsey, Marlon Humphrey, and Tre’Davious White have all moved the market with $17MM+/year extensions.
Latest On Patriots’ Cam Newton
Cam Newton is set to participate in Patriots minicamp, including his full complement of reps this week (Twitter link via Jim McBride of the Boston Globe). That’s good news for the quarterback after he was forced out of OTAs earlier this month with a hand injury.
[RELATED: Were Patriots In On Julio Jones?]
Newton reportedly banged his hand against a teammate’s helmet, resulting in a painful bone bruise. The injury was said to be fairly minor from the get-go, though it could have impacted his availability for these early practices. Meanwhile, Newton needs the on-field time as he battles for the starting job with first-round pick Mac Jones.
Soon after landing Jones, head coach Bill Belichick said that Newton would be slotted as the starter until further notice. That’s a familiar refrain in the NFL, though younger guys often go on to beat out the established vets ahead of them.
Newton didn’t exactly inspire confidence in his first season with the Pats. The longtime Panthers star threw for just eight touchdowns against ten interceptions. On the plus side, he completed 65.8% of his passes, which was a better showing than most of his NFL seasons. The Pats still re-upped Newton, but his one-year carries just $3.5MM in guarantees.
Julio Jones Fallout: Contract, Suitors, Titans
In a trade that will send one of the 21st century’s best players to the AFC, the Titans moved ahead of the pack in this pursuit via a firm offer. The Titans were the only serious Jones suitor, according to NBC Sports’ Peter King.
The Falcons spoke with several teams on Jones, though offers were scarce. At various points in this process, the team discussed the All-Pro wide receiver with every NFC West franchise. The Cardinals are a new entrant in this derby, but Albert Breer of SI.com notes neither they nor their NFC West rivals sent the Falcons firm offers.
The Titans initially proposed sending the Falcons a conditional third-rounder that could become a second, Breer adds, but Atlanta had Tennessee’s proposal of a second-rounder sans conditions on the table for a bit. Sunday-morning negotiations that ended with the teams agreeing to exchange later-round picks finalized the deal, according to King.
Tennessee’s willingness to absorb Jones’ $15.3MM guaranteed salary also outflanked other suitors, per Breer, who notes the Falcons were not interested in eating part of Jones’ 2021 salary in order to sweeten trade compensation. No first-round pick was offered, Breer notes, though at one point a first did come up as part of a potential pick swap.
A Jones-Falcons divorce first surfaced around draft time, and it became a deal framed around the new Falcons regime receiving cap relief. Given the salary component in these talks, that certainly is a key reason why Jones is Nashville-bound. But this separation began when Jones and the Falcons negotiated his wideout-record three-year, $66MM extension. Jones lobbied the Falcons for a new deal after the 2017 season; the Falcons refused and ended up making minor adjustments to his previous contract in 2018. The future Hall of Famer pursued the matter again in 2019. While the sides hammered out an agreement, the months-long negotiations — which ended with a Sept. 7 accord — took a toll on both parties. Jones communicated to the Falcons he wanted out in March.
Although the Ravens pursued several receivers this offseason and signed Sammy Watkins, their Jones interest ceased after the draft. Baltimore using first- and fourth-round picks on wideouts — Rashod Bateman and Tylan Wallace — ended its talks with its former division rival. Finances scuttled Seahawks involvement, King notes, adding the Patriots were also not serious players in this chase.
It sounds like the Falcons are preparing for a pricey Calvin Ridley extension. The 2018 first-round pick is now eligible for a new deal, and the Falcons are preparing for that expensive re-up, per Breer, by getting the Jones contract off their books. Though Atlanta is still eating some dead money from this trade, the team has some time on a Ridley extension. The Falcons picked up his fifth-year option in May, locking up Ridley through 2022.
CFL WR/TE Jevon Cottoy To Work Out For 49ers, Others Interested
A CFL player is starting to build some serious NFL buzz. WR/TE Jevon Cottoy will work out for the 49ers this coming week, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network tweets.
Pelissero reports that Cottoy has already worked out for the Texans, Raiders, Patriots, and Saints, adding that there’s “significant interest” in him. As Pelissero points out, he’s got good size at 6’5 and 230 pounds. Unlike many players who attempt to make the jump from the CFL to the NFL, Cottoy isn’t a former American player who wasn’t able to make it in the pros right out of college.
Cottoy grew up in Calgary and rose through the football ranks entirely in Canada. He’s still only 24 and has just one year of CFL experience under his belt, in 2019. The 2020 CFL season was canceled due to COVID-19.
Kyle Shanahan loves to get creative on offense, and the team has brought in other hybrid players before like RB/WR Jalen Hurd and versatile fullback Kyle Juszczyk, so San Francisco’s interest isn’t too surprising. It sounds like the odds are better than not that Cottoy will end up signing somewhere.
Cam Newton To Miss Offseason Work
- The hand injury Cam Newton suffered will end up impacting his offseason status. The Patriots quarterback is expected to miss time, Jeff Howe of The Athletic tweets. Given Newton’s extensive injury history, this would be notable even without Mac Jones‘ presence. But the prospect of Jones going through the rest of OTAs and minicamp with Newton sidelined figures to impact the Pats’ quarterback competition. New England’s minicamp is scheduled to run from June 14-16.
Cam Newton Suffers Hand Injury
Cam Newton did not finish the Patriots’ Friday OTA practice after suffering a hand injury, putting his availability for the remainder of the Pats’ offseason program in question.
This injury is believed to be minor, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com, who notes Newton suffered a bone bruise on his right hand (Twitter link). Newton banged his hand against a teammate’s helmet during practice. Although this almost certainly will not impact Newton’s status for training camp, the malady may sideline him from some of the team’s remaining offseason work.
The Patriots have four more OTA days next week before their three-day minicamp, which is scheduled to run from June 15-17. With Newton in competition with first-round pick Mac Jones for New England’s starting job, any extended absence stands to factor into this equation. After the Jones draft choice, Bill Belichick declared Newton remained the starter until further notice.
The former No. 1 overall pick struggled in his first Patriots season, continuing a post-Super Bowl 50 descent that has heavily involved injuries. The Pats re-signed Newton this offseason, but the one-year deal only came with $3.5MM fully guaranteed. They then used the No. 15 overall pick on Jones. New England has 2019 fourth-rounder Jarrett Stidham and the recently re-signed Brian Hoyer on its roster as well.
Patriots Sign WR Marvin Hall
The Patriots have signed wide receiver Marvin Hall (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport). Details of the deal were not disclosed, but it’s likely a low-cost, one-year deal for the speedy veteran. 
Hall, a 2016 undrafted free agent out of Washington, seemed to have found a home with the Lions in 2020. After wandering the league early in his pro career, he managed 17 catches for 290 yards and two scores across eleven games. But, in an effort to see more from their younger players, the Lions cut him loose in December, leading him to the Browns.
Hall — who previously suited up for the Raiders, Cardinals, Falcons, and Bears — enjoyed a breakout performance in Week 8, catching four passes for 113 yards. Now, he’ll compete for a spot in New England where Nelson Agholor, Kendrick Bourne, and Jakobi Meyers headline the WR group. Special teams standout Matthew Slater is likely to keep his spot, even if he doesn’t see much time on offense. That leaves Hall, N’Keal Harry, seventh-round pick Tre Nixon, Kristian Wilkerson, Gunner Olszewski, and Isaiah Zuber to battle for one or two remaining jobs this summer.
Latest On Patriots' Offensive Line
- The Dolphins added Jason McCourty early this month. The veteran cornerback is expected to play a key depth role in Miami, and Brian Flores said (via Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald) some work at safety is possible for the three-year Patriots corner starter. McCourty saw most of his snaps at corner in 2020 but did work as a safety on 75 plays. The Dolphins let Bobby McCain go this offseason but have ex-Pats corner Eric Rowe and second-rounder Jevon Holland at safety. As for McCourty’s compensation, Jackson adds the 33-year-old defender signed for the veteran minimum. His base salary is nearly fully guaranteed, with OverTheCap noting McCourty is locked into $987K of that $1.1MM figure.
- Joe Thuney‘s departure for Kansas City will create a vacancy at New England’s left guard spot for the first time in many years. The Patriots‘ first-string left guard since 2016, Thuney has yet to miss a game during his career. The Pats, however, may have located a gem in 2020 sixth-round pick Michael Onwenu. The Michigan product started 16 games and played more on the edge than at guard as a rookie. But it looks like the Pats will shift Onwenu to a full-time guard role, with ESPN.com’s Mike Reiss noting he lined up as their first-string left guard in OTAs. The Pats traded for Trent Brown and are expected to use him at right tackle, Onwenu’s primary 2020 position. Pro Football Focus graded Onwenu as a top-10 tackle last season.
- Brown and Isaiah Wynn are set to be the Pats’ starting tackles, and Reiss adds Justin Herron looks like the top candidate to be their swing backup. Drafted 13 spots ahead of Onwenu in last year’s sixth round, Herron started six games and played 351 snaps as a rookie. PFF graded Herron 56th overall at tackle in 2020. Considering Wynn’s injury history, the Pats’ swing-tackle role is a pivotal gig.