49ers can’t afford a trade for Patriots CB Stephon Gilmore

Patriots cornerback Stephon Gilmore is holding out for a new contract, but the 49ers aren’t in a position where they can afford to trade for him.

Could the San Francisco 49ers benefit from adding a veteran cornerback like the New England Patriots‘ Stephon Gilmore?

Absolutely.

Can the Niners afford to trade for him?

No, not exactly.

Gilmore is in the news after NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported the four-time Pro Bowler and two-time first-team All-Pro is absent from New England’s mandatory minicamp and hoping for a new contract:

So, not surprisingly, there’s going to be an uptick of speculation from around the league whether or not teams should be calling Patriots head coach Bill Belichick to offer up a trade package.

Prior to many of San Francisco’s offseason moves, adding a player like Gilmore would have made a lot of sense. After all, the 49ers are employing two starting cornerbacks with injury histories, Jason Verrett and K’Waun Williams, and have another questionable starter on the boundary in Emmanuel Moseley.

If the Niners continue to pass on Pro Bowl cornerback Richard Sherman, which is seemingly going to be the case, Gilmore could help. Even though he is dealing with injuries, appeared to have lost a step last year, the 30-year-old former Defensive Player of the Year could help, right?

Well, not so fast.

49ers can’t afford to dish out NFL Draft picks, capital for Stephon Gilmore

After dishing out first-round picks in 2022 and 2023, along with next year’s compensatory Round 3 selection to move up to No. 3 overall in this year’s NFL Draft, San Francisco is notably short on draft capital over the next two seasons. Particularly the first two days.

It’s anyone’s guess what Belichick would ask in return for a player of Gilmore’s caliber, yet there are likely to be plenty of other teams willing to offer up more than what the 49ers could afford, at least from a draft perspective.

Yet that’s not the major kicker.

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No, it would be taking on Gilmore’s contract. Currently, according to Over the Cap, the Niners have over $17.7 million in cap space but without having inked their top three draft picks, including quarterback Trey Lance. It’s likely the cap space diminishes to roughly $10 million, making the onboarding of Gilmore’s $7.74 million post-trade money awfully tough to onboard.

And that would be before any renegotiated extension would take place.

Yes, there are ways to get creative with cap space, and San Francisco landing Gilmore would guard against injuries to players like Verrett and Moseley while allowing the team to not force its two rookie corners, Ambry Thomas and Deommodore Lenoir, into the fray prematurely.

But the combination of Gilmore’s likely post-trade asking price and the fact the 49ers would have to part ways with even more out of a dwindling number of future draft picks makes a would-be trade with New England unfeasible.

In both the short- and long-term scenarios, it’s certainly best for the Niners to take a pass here.