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Cornerback Stephon Gilmore didn’t get to pick his new team because the Patriots traded him rather than releasing him, but the destination may have been the same either way.
Gilmore is from Rock Hill, South Carolina and grew up as a Panthers fan, so it wasn’t a surprise that he said on Thursday that he would have considered signing with the Panthers if he’d become a free agent earlier this week. Gilmore said he “always dreamed about” playing for his childhood favorites one day.
“This is a place I always wanted to play,” Gilmore said, via the team’s website. “Looking at the team and what they’ve got, the potential. Obviously, you have to put in a lot of hard work to get to where you want to go. For sure, I think it was a great opportunity I would come here.”
Gilmore won’t be able to make his first appearance for the team until he’s eligible to come off the PUP list in Week Seven. He said he’ll be “just taking it a day at a time” until he can be activated and throw on the jersey he’s had his eyes on for many years.
