What a Seahawks contract could look like for Stephon Gilmore
By Geoff Shull
What a contract offer to Stephon Gilmore might look like
Great, so the need to trade for the player is no longer an option. However, this hurts like a two-sided thorn. The Seahawks could have traded for Gilmore and avoided the mobs of teams trying to sign him. Control his end destination. However, that was a VERY steep price. Instead, Gilmore successfully made it to free agency and a bidding war is about to ensue for his services.
The Seahawks better come in willing to use some of their vast cap space. The team currently has over $11 million in cap room and has more than enough to make a very competitive offer.
So, the question then becomes, what is a competitive offer for a player in his 30’s and coming off three straight Pro Bowls. It’s really a loaded question. Players don’t typically last long in the league after their 30th birthday. However, his production has shown no signs of slowing down outside of a late-season injury last year.
Projected Seahawks contract offer:
Terms: 2 years, $28 million
Average salary: $14 million
Signing bonus: $8 million
Cap hits by year:
- 2021: $5 million
- 2022: $20 million
What this becomes is a one-year contract where the second-year is a team option. It forces the team to either extend him to reduce that $20 million cap hit or cut him after this season. This is about the best contract a team can offer at this point of the season.
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It gives Gilmore the money he is seeking today while ensuring he will either hit free agency with full access to other clubs’ banks or a lucrative contract extension with the Seahawks. Either way, he gets the payday he is after.