Stephon

Gilmore

The Bills drafted Gilmore with the No. 10 overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft. He remained in Buffalo until 2017, when he signed with the Patriots in free agency. Gilmore enjoyed the best seasons of his career in New England, winning Super Bowl LII in 2018. He earned first-team All-Pro honors in 2018 and 2019, and co-led the NFL in interceptions while also winning NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 2019. He earned Pro Bowl honors in 2016 and 2018-2021. He spent one-year stints with the Panthers, Colts, Cowboys and Vikings from 2021-2024. Gilmore logged 149 passes defended, 32 interceptions, 617 combined tackles and one sack in his NFL career.

The 34-year-old veteran visited the Cowboys pre-draft but left without a contract. Gilmore is no longer an above-average starter, but he did force eight incompletions and record one interception last year. A playoff contender could benefit from signing Gilmore as an experienced option, but teams tend to not have high valuations on older cornerbacks.

It’s the first known visit for Gilmore, who turns 35 in September. The veteran finished with a tough 59.2 PFF coverage grade in 904 snaps with the uber-aggressive Vikings last season. Perhaps a move to Matt Eberflus’ more zone-heavy scheme would benefit the ballhawk with 34 career interceptions, allowing him to read the quarterback and not asking him to keep up with young legs down the field.

Gilmore missed two games with the hamstring issue but is good to go for Week 16. Harrison Smith, on the other hand, is listed as questionable with a foot issue. He was limited in Friday’s practice after being downgraded to a DNP on Thursday.

Gilmore is the only shocker after being listed as questionable following a ramp up in activity during practice this week. The Vikings continue to battle for a potential top seed out of the NFC, with a win drawing them into a three-way tie at 12-2 with only three games remaining in the regular season.

Gilmore was listed as questionable heading into the game, but it sounds like the veteran corner will miss his second consecutive game with the hamstring injury that forced him from Week 13’s game against the Cardinals. With Gilmore out, the Vikings will likely start Fabian Moreau, who is listed as the next man up on the team’s depth chart.

Gilmore was declared out on Friday with a hamstring injury he never practiced with this week. Jones II was limited with a knee injury. Many Vikings are playing on questionable tags, headlined by EDGE Andrew Van Ginkel and G Dalton Risner. Rodriguez, Feeney, and Rouse are healthy scratches.

Gilmore is dealing with a low-grade hamstring injury according to head coach Kevin Stefanski. It doesn’t sound like a long-term issue but is enough to knock him out for Week 14. Gilmore has started all 12 games for the Vikings this year, tallying seven pass breakups and one interception in the process. The Vikings still have a strong pass-rush, but their weakened secondary will be an easy target for Drake London and Darnell Mooney this week.

O’Connell added that the team does not believe Gilmore’s injury is long-term, but he is undergoing further evaluation. The veteran corner has started every game he’s appeared in for the Vikings this season, earning a PFF coverage grade of 62.7 while allowing 45 catches for 428 yards and three touchdowns. Given the nature of these soft tissue injuries, it wouldn’t be surprising if Gilmore missed at least one game, but we’ll have a better sense of his availability when the team releases its first practice report on Wednesday.

It only felt like a matter of time until this deal got done. In desperate need of help in their secondary, the Vikings met with Gilmore last week and have now inked him to a deal that includes $7 million in guaranteed money. He can earn up to $10 million on the deal. Gilmore will turn 34 next month and spent all of last season with the Cowboys. He was shoehorned into a CB1 role after the Cowboys lost Trevon Diggs early in the season but played reasonably well, earning a PFF coverage grade of 72.3. His best days are almost certainly behind him, but Gilmore can still provide plenty of help to a secondary that allowed the ninth-most receiving yards per game last season.