New England Patriots: 3 surprising moves on cutdown day

Cam Newton #1 of the New England Patriots (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images)
Cam Newton #1 of the New England Patriots (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 3
Next
New England Patriots
Stephon Gilmore #24 of the New England Patriots (Photo by Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty Images) /

New England Patriots surprise move No. 2: Stephon Gilmore placed on PUP list

Stephon Gilmore and the Patriots have had a contract dispute all offseason long. Once training camp opened, most assumed that a resolution to the issue was on the horizon. And yet here we are, with the 53 man roster set and still no resolution.

Gilmore’s status was only delayed for the next six weeks, and potentially longer, as he was placed on the Physically Unable to Perform list this morning. This ensures Gilmore will miss at least the first six games of the season as he continues to rehab back from a season ending quad injury he sufferred last season.

More from Chowder and Champions

Whether Gilmore is actually still dealing with rehabbing his quad is unknown to this point. He made it very clear early on that he was unhappy with his current deal, and was looking for a new one. After initially skipping the mandatory minicamp, he reported for training camp, but never took the field.

Nobody knew whether that was due to him holding out or if he was actually injured. Sure he was put on the PUP list, but it essentially gives the team an extra six weeks to try to resolve his situation when they should have had it settled by now. There’s a chance New England just hadn’t resolved the issue and didn’t want to waste a roster spot on him, so they threw him on the PUP and decided to circle back to it in a few weeks.

The more likely scenario is Gilmore is actually rehabbing and just wasn’t ready, but that begs the question of what will happen when he returns. He’s clearly unhappy with his deal, so will he even take the field when he’s ready to be activated off the PUP list? The most surprising aspect of Gilmore getting placed on the PUP list is that this situation made it this far without getting resolved, and it looks like we are going to have to wait another six weeks to see what happens.