Wednesday morning in NFL World dawned with news that the New England Patriots had chosen to move on from two-time All-Pro cornerback Stephon Gilmore – not a wholly surprising consequence given the 2019 defensive player of the year and team had been at loggerheads over his 2021 compensation in the final year of Gilmore's five-year, $65 million contract.
Still, the timing of the decision did raise antennae around the league given the Patriots essentially sent up a flare to the 31 other teams that Gilmore was officially available immediately to interested parties that might not want to enter a bidding war for his services once his release became official at 4 p.