The New England Patriots are rarely among the NFL’s big spenders in free agency, so when they do make a big signing it certainly catches the eye. Such was the case in March 2017, when the team brought cornerback Stephon Gilmore in on a massive five-year, $65 million contract. Needless to say that the big-dollar investment was a good one on the team’s part: Gilmore has been outstanding over the last two years.
During the 2017 playoffs, he already was arguably the NFL’s best cornerback. He built on this success last year and was able to make the famed second-year jump: Gilmore developed into an All-Pro defensive back, ranked first on Pro Football Focus’ list of cornerbacks, and most importantly helped the Patriots win a Super Bowl — one during which he registered the game-clinching interception.