Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Future in Foxboro? Julio Jones Trade Rumors and Stephon Gilmore’s future with the Patriots — 5/24/2021

Episode Date: May 24, 2021

The New England Patriots are heavily rumored to be a potential destination for current Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones. However, how Isley is is that the talented wideout ends up in Foxboro? Joining host Mike D’Abate is fan-favorite Thomas ‘Murph’ Murphy as the duo discuss the potential of a deal to bring Jones to New England. They also close out #LockedOnMurph Monday by discussing the future of Stephon Gilmore in Foxboro, Massachusetts.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKED15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.BetOnline AGThere is only 1 place that has you covered and 1 place we trust. Betonline.ag! Sign up today for a free account at betonline.ag and use that promocode: LOCKEDON for your 50% welcome bonus.Rock AutoAmazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You are Locked On Patriots, your daily New England Patriots podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Hello to all of you Foxborough faithful. You are now locked in to the Locked On Patriots podcast. It is Monday, May 24th, 2021, and it's time for a little hashtag Locked On Murph Monday here on your daily home for news, notes, and analysis infused with the occasional opinion on your six-time Super Bowl champions, the New England Patriots. Locked On Patriots is presented today by Bilt Bar.

Go to BiltBar.com and use the promo code LOCKED15 to get 15% off your next order. Greetings and salutations, Patriots fans, and thank you for kicking off yet another week with me right here on the Locked On Patriots podcast. My name is Mike DeBate, your host of Locked On Patriots, which, of course, is a proud part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. And because it's your team every day, that means your questions, your comments, your feedback are always welcomed and very much encouraged. So share that feedback.

Send it to the Internet by reaching out to me and following me on Twitter at MDABATEFPC. And while you're out there doing some Monday meddling through the Twitterverse, by reaching out to me and following me on Twitter at M-D-A-B-A-T-E-F-P-C. And while you're out there doing some Monday meddling through the Twitterverse, please be sure to follow the Locked On Patriots account as well at L-O underscore Patriots. Pats fans, it's Monday, so you know what that means. We kick off the week in a big green way with some big green wisdom and counsel. My good friend, the Count of Murphy Fisto himself, the legendary Thomas Murphy, is back

here today for his weekly spot on Hashtag LockedOnMurphMonday. And if you've been following Patriot's social media all weekend long, you'll know that the most prominent topic of conversation revolves around current Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones. How long will he be a Falcons wide receiver is anyone's guess. And today on Monday, the talk about Julio's departure from Atlanta got even louder. We'll get to that in just a minute, but it's a big story and it requires some big wisdom and counsel. Luckily for us, Murph is here and we

will talk Julio Jones. Why Murph and I feel that it may not be as likely as some believe that Julio will find his way to Foxborough for the upcoming 2021 season. And yes, I still feel that way even after Monday's controversial news drop. The fit is undeniable. Julio would look great in a Patriots uniform. He instantly upgrades the Patriots wide receiver core, but the timing as to where Julio is in his career right now and the timing regarding the Patriots development of the quarterback position might make New England a less-than-ideal fit. Murph and I are like-minded on this, and we'll tell you why. And before you get upset with us for that take, know that this is just Murph and my

opinion. Our good friends over at BetOnline.ag are doing what they do best, better than anyone else in the business. They're compiling a list of the teams that are the favorites to procure Julio Jones' services for 2021. Who's atop that list? That's right, your New England Patriots at minus 150. But why are the Patriots favorites? Well, over the weekend, you heard some smatterings that the Patriots have had, quote, internal discussions about what it would take to acquire Jones for the upcoming season. Those smatterings got even louder when reports started to surface that Julio Jones had expressed an interest in playing alongside Cam Newton.

Yeah, that one made the plot thicken a little bit. But what really sent these rumors into overdrive was what occurred today, on Monday, on FS1's Undisputed with Skip Bayless and Shannon Sharp. And during the show, Shannon apparently had an audio discussion with Julio Jones on the other line. When specifically asked about Atlanta, Julio responded, no, I'm out of there. In the process, dropping an apparent bombshell to the rest of NFL media, letting everyone know that even though most expected Julio to be traded, it now looks like a foregone

conclusion. And while there are a lot of teams out there that would love to add Julio Jones to their wide receiver core, just off the top of my head, the Baltimore Ravens, the Tennessee Titans, maybe the San Francisco 49ers, the Patriots make a lot of sense. They have the capital to give up. They can make it work financially, as we discussed here on Friday. And as our good friend, the Wizard of Benzon himself himself, Miguel, aka Patscap Benzón, eloquently outlined on his Twitter feed, the Patriots can make this work within the cap,

meaning that a portion of Julio Jones' $15.83 million salary in 2021 could be converted to a signing bonus and allow the Patriots to lessen the cap hit. Keep in mind that Miguel also pointed out that there is virtually no incentive for the Atlanta Falcons to trade Julio Jones prior to June 1st. If they do so, they'll actually be forfeiting money, and right now are very much up against it when it comes to the salary cap. The Falcons would lose close to $900,000 in cap space if they trade Jones before June 2nd. Trading him on June 2nd or after would create about $14.6 million in cap space for them. So between now and June 2nd, all the Julio Jones talk is probably going to be a

lot of rumor and innuendo. But Julio's comments on today's Undisputed might help accelerate that and turn what many already thought to be likely into, again, a foregone conclusion. But rumors surrounding Julio Jones weren't the only story in Foxborough over the weekend. We started to see reports popping up all over social media that Stephon Gilmore might not be very happy with his contract, and that it might lead to a contract holdout with OTA, minicamp, and training camp fast approaching. What could this possibly mean for Stephon Gilmore's future here in New England? Well, rumors of a holdout can often cause some difficulty.

However, sometimes they can work to your advantage. And in this case, I think it might do just that for the 2019 Defensive Player of the Year. But don't just take my word for it. We're going to ask our good green friend Murph what he thinks about the future of Stephon Gilmore here in New England, and what it could possibly mean for the future of JC Jackson here in New England. Folks, an action-packed agenda, talking Julio Jones, Stephon Gilmore, and the future of your New England Patriots with our man Murph, when this Monday episode of the Locked On

Patriots podcast continues. But first, Locked On listeners, our friends at Credit Karma have always been there to help you make better financial decisions, and now they want to help even more. With a Credit Karma money spend account, you can be rewarded for good money habits. Credit Karma money is a brand new checking account where you can win cash reimbursements for making purchases. When you use your Credit Karma money debit card, you can win daily Instant Karma purchase reimbursements on items up to $5,000. Just pay with your debit card, and if you win, you'll be notified on the spot, and your Instant Karma cash will be added back to your spend account. Credit Karma money has already given away over $3 million in Instant Karma to over 50,000 Credit Karma members and counting. Open your FDIC-insured spend account for free.

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No purchase necessary. Exclusions and terms apply. See rules. Banking services provided by MVB Bank Incorporated. Member FDIC. Maximum balance and transfer limits apply. Patriots fans, nothing quite defines Patriots social media like rumor and innuendo. Player X is headed here. This is what Team Y wants in return.

And the ever-popular affirmation, and I use the term loosely, folks, per source. Well, today we have the perfect antidote to that speculation serum that's circulating throughout the media realm, green wisdom and counsel. That's right, folks, it's that time again. It's Monday, he's here, he's ready to roll. Your favorite and mine, my benefactor in this business, and the only guest on this pod with his very own branded hashtag, the Count of Murphy Fisto himself, the legendary Thomas Murphy is back for his weekly appearance

here on Locked on Patriots. Thank you for coming to me in friendship. Thank you for joining me today, Don Murph. Would it be Monday without us? It definitely would not. Well, it'd be Monday without me, but definitely not without Murph. No question about it. Stop, it'd be Monday without me, but definitely not without Murph. No question about it. Stop, man.

Stop. I appreciate the hashtag, and I love it, and I love being here. But this makes Monday something special. Usually, before you started asking me to make it a weekly appearance on Mondays, you sit there, and the Sunday games hit, and the 8 o'clock game hits, and it's like, wow, what am I going to do until Monday night football? And now I've got something else to get up for. And it makes me happy and it gets me out of bed and making the coffee for the rest of the family.

So thank you again for having me, bud. Absolutely. And you know what? The way I like to look at it is when I fill out the lineup card every single week i get the best bat in the in the business right you know batting lead off you don't not many teams get that opportunity i've got that and i consider myself the luckiest guy in the world for that so anytime you join me on the microphone here bud it's always fun it's always intriguing and it's always interesting and we'll dive right into it because... I'm the Ricky Henderson of Locked On. That is right, absolutely.

Ricky Henderson with home run level power every time you take the bat. That's big. Let's see if we can bat flip today. You know what? I think we're going to be able to bat flip today because... Murph, surprise, surprise. The Patriots find themselves in the midst of trade rumors once again. The newest flavor of Pat's Chat Purgatory out there, I like to call it, is New England having quote-unquote internal discussions about Falcons wideout Julio Jones.

And this has really mushroomed into a pretty big story nationally, not just locally. Friday, I had the good fortune of having our good mutual friend, Mark Schofield, here on the show. We talked a little bit about Julio, what the logistical fit would be here in New England, how they might be able to make this work. Got some good pieces of information, financial pieces of information from my good friend, the Pats captain himself.

And we talked a little bit about the logistics. But these rumors started out really on Friday morning, late Thursday afternoon with the Pats are interested. Then it progressed to they've had internal discussions, which, folks, I guarantee you, if there's a player out there to be had and his value is relatively high within the NFL realm, I guarantee you the Patriots have had internal discussions about that player. Don't let that give you visions of sugar plums dancing in your heads. There's, you know, those internal discussions happen a lot. But those morphed into reports that Julio Jones wanted to, quote unquote, play with Cam Newton. So that really allowed these to take fire and spread a little bit more than maybe we had even anticipated

earlier on in the weekend. Murph, you and I both know that virtue lies in the middle, and as much as having peak Julio Jones in any lineup is going to be exciting, it's going to improve your wide receiver core, the compensation has to be right in return, and the timing has to be right, meaning that the Patriots have to be sure that by bringing in Julio Jones, they're putting themselves into championship contention. That's the whole point in doing a trade like this. You don't bring in Julio for languishing in the middle of the division and maybe a first-round playoff exit or worse. You bring him in because you believe he's the guy that's going to put you over the top. At the same time, Julio also has to be sure about the return. He's got to be sure that

he's going to a place that can maximize his ability to win because he is entering the latter years of his career. Murph, I opened the show today that's saying there's a crack, there's a fissure, if you will, in my enthusiasm on the Patriots trading for Julio Jones, more so than when I took the microphone on Friday. But we need the wisdom and counsel on this one, buddy. What are the chances that the Patriots trade for Julio Jones, in your opinion? I believe it's probably 60-40 that he does not come here. It's just a – I'm sorry, folks. I'm really sorry.

But every year this happens. We go through it with Tampa and all those years. Who could Bill bring in to bolster the wide receivers and keep Tom happy? Or last year it's this guy. This year, here we go, and it's Julio Jones. Now, don't get me wrong. I would love to see Julio Jones in a Patriots uniform. I think he's somebody that could go and get a ball to the left or right

or at the ground or seven feet over his head where Cam is throwing it. But, you know, let's pump the brakes a little bit. It's all going to be about the price. But I do agree that the Falcons are motivated sellers. I mean, um, their general manager, um, Fontenot, am I pronouncing that right? Terry Fontenot and, um, their, their, their coaches is, they know the problems that, that Atlanta has. Um, it, this is, this is not fantasy football people, unless course, you're dealing with a salary cap in fantasy football. And the Falcons have serious problems working within the cap.

I'm sorry to say, Felger and Maz, the cap is real, and it is a functioning thing. And they came in, and in the last year and a half, they've restructured Matt Ryan, Jake Matthews, Deion Jones, and Tyler Davidson's contracts. And they cut the salary of Dante Fowler. The Falcons released five players with cap figures that were too high for their production. Ricardo Allen, Jamone Brown, Alan Bailey. I can't. Oh, Ido Smith., you know, these guys are let go. But Ryan is the cap situation was deemed too dire for the Falcons to allow to pay him $40.9 million.

It would have meant cutting Deion Jones. So the team converted some of his money into bonus money and into, I believe, it was voidable years and things like that. They have – but to cut it short, they have issues. And Ryan's number is now like at $27 million. Maybe it's a tad bit underneath it. It's bringing him in here. Bill has done this time and time again that, yeah, we will bring somebody in.

We'll trade for them. But he is on a one-year – how can we restructure this so I can still have moves, so I can still have money. The Patriots like to go into every single year with between $7 and $9 million at the very least in cap space to make these kind of moves in season, to bring some people in. So that's all going to factor into it. And that factors into my 60-40, no, he's not going to be here. Because one, Jones is getting up there, and does he want to sacrifice money that he knows is in his pocket? And two, like you said, does he really think, I mean, does he really think that coming here is going to be good for his career

right now when he could, say, you know, go to a team that has a better shot, save the hate mail people, at winning a world championship for him while he's still able to walk upright. Yeah, absolutely. And I completely agree with you on the 60-40. That's exactly where I am right now as well. And it is a little bit of a change from my enthusiasm over the weekend and even to open Friday show. I said, this one has some legs. This one has some, you know, grit to it. Like most of the rumors that surround the Patriots, I'm skeptical of them the minute I hear

them until I start to hear rulings from those that are close to the team. But this one made sense to me right off the bat. But the more I took a look into it and the more I looked at the logistics behind it, it just seemed like even though it's possible and they can do it again, we mentioned Miguel, the Pats cap outlining. He put a tremendous breakdown on his Twitter feed showing exactly how the Patriots would be able to do it in terms of what Julio's contract looks like in 2021 through 2023. Fitting the contract as it stands would be able to be converted into a signing bonus. If you did that, it would allow the cap number to be significantly lowered and it would allow

it to be much more palatable for the Patriots to be able to do it. So it's logistically possible. Obviously, I tweeted out over the weekend in a tidbit that I got from Miguel about June 2nd being the day that would be where you heard something happen. I sincerely doubt you're going to hear everything beforehand because as it's been widely reported, if they do anything with Julio before June 1st, it's actually going to cost them cap space which

they don't have right now converting it and doing this afterwards would allow them to save about 14.6 million against the cap uh either uh after either on june 2nd or after that point right so there's a lot of motivation to wait on six two is the number people absolutely if there's one thing's open up happening right guys and there Guys, you'll see more free agent signings because people don't have to worry about losing draft picks next year's compensation. It's all about June 2nd. So let's just, you know, hold on to your butts. Yeah, absolutely. And some of the circulations that I started to see on Saturday indicated that things were imminent. And I just said I had known that and I just kind of put it out there. And, you know, a lot of people responded to it, which was good. But in any case, I am in agreement with you on that, because I do believe that even though it's logistically possible,

I just believe the timing is slightly off here for Julio to come into New England, knowing that other teams are going to be interested. And that leads me quite nicely into my next question for you, Bud, is that other teams are going to be interested in his services. Teams that will make an effort to be able to bring him in. We hear about the Arizona Cardinals maybe wanting to form like a super wide receiver core there with DeAndre Hopkins and trying to bring him in.

They obviously have the cap wherewithal to be able to do it. They're an intriguing option. The Jets are out there. A lot of people are squawking at that. I don't necessarily think the Jets are in a better position to win right now than the Patriots are. But the Tennessee Titans have emerged over the course of the last 24 to 48 hours as a team that's being talked about a lot.

This is intriguing because I do think that Tennessee can make a challenge right now with a player like Julio in his arsenal. I know you've kind of tipped your hand a little bit by saying that you believe that the Falcons are motivated sellers. I believe he'll be moved. If it's not the Patriots, where do you see Julio possibly fitting in this year? Well, this is really rough, but I think he'd be a great fit with the Ravens. I also believe the Niners would be a good spot, the Chargers could be. And then, you know, let's not overlook the Packers.

The Packers have their own issues right now with the cap and what's going on over there. But I think he would fit fantastically with them and discount double choke. You know, the way he goes downfield and breaks stuff up, I believe that's it. But if you put a gun to my head, I would say that the best spot, the most likely spot for him to get traded to is the Ravens. Yeah, and that's a scary proposition. If you take a look at the Ravens and what they're able to do both on offense and on defense, you put a guy like Julio Jones in there that's a reliable threat all over the field,

all of a sudden that takes away some of the deficiencies that we've seen in Lamar Jackson's game. And there aren't many. I'm not a Lamar Jackson hater by any stretch of the imagination. I love watching the guy play. I am. But there are some limitations as well. You put somebody like that, all of a sudden that is pretty formidable. You mentioned the Chargers.

That, I think, is a good fit as well. Justin Herbert emerging as one of the better signal callers in this league has the great fortune of having the arm and the quarterback savvy to be able to fit and work with a guy like Julio. The question is how close are the Chargers to contending? They're already in a tough division. They're already in a tough spot. But they're building for the future, and is some you know good uh you know solid uh capabilities there um again

baltimore i think is a good spot tennessee uh you mentioned san francisco and it's a fit there i mean you know there's a familiarity with kyle shanahan um you know you look at the two types of quarterbacks that they have going in even if jim G is the guy, and I believe he will be the guy to start the season, he can develop a pretty good synergy with Julio. And no matter how quickly they want to pull the trigger and make that move to Trey Lance, that's going to be interesting as well because here's a young quarterback with a whole lot of promise and with a shiny wide receiver on that core that's a veteran, that's done it, that's played at a high level for a number of years. And boy, you look pretty good in a Niners uniform.

So that's interesting. Not to mention that future rookie that could really use steady hands as a, as a safety, safety valve, safety blanket. I'd call it out there. And you never know, Jerry Jones might just do something really stupid you can never count jera out of any type right um any type of rumor i mean the cowboys are always in it the patriots are naturally in it and again i think that's one of the reasons why the patriots are such a prominent rumor i know he's put out there that he'd love to play with cam but how much much better could it get for Mac Jones to have a guy like Julio Jones to be able to, no relation, to be able to, there's a diehard drop in.

I got to get those in there, Murph. I'm contractually obligated to give bad dad jokes at least once an episode. That was my one for the day, and it fell flat. There we go great job folks thank you uh but in any case uh to have julio jones be able to uh be that safety valve for a guy like mac not necessarily in 2021 but maybe in 2022 so and with right 2 million already guaranteed for julio's salary you have to think that whatever team brings him in he's not just committing to him for this year they're committing to him for at least a couple of years. So things

will get interesting. So again, folks, I'm not saying it won't happen in New England. I'm just saying that I'm a little more pessimistic than optimistic. And my good friend in the Green Wisdom and Council backs me up on that. And I take his opinion right to the bank. That's why you lend the Wisdom and Council here on Locked On Patriots, bud, because you're a wise and considerate young man. But wisdom and consideration, not the only values that need to be applied to the Patriots' offense, the defense needs them too. And arguably, the Patriots' best defensive player continues to find himself

the subject of much debate. That's another pun intended, folks. Here are my good friend's thoughts on the future of Stephon Gilmore in New England when the Locked On Patriots podcast continues. Locked On listeners, we've all heard the phrase often imitated but never duplicated. It's a part of the sports fans lexicon, and that's because only the best athletes and sports teams can provide you with the best possible moments. And in that vein, the only ones who could provide the best healthy, low-calorie, and delicious treats to satisfy all of your snacking needs are the ones who provided the best in the first place.

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Prepare your taste buds for well and make Bilt Bar your go-to protein bar right now. Go to BiltBar.com and use the promo code LOCKED15 to get 15% off your next order. That's promo code LOCKED15 for 15% off your next order at BiltBar.com. Pats fans, Thomas Murphy joins me here on the pod today. It is hashtag LockedOnMurphMonday. And Murph, we started off with some hypotheticals. Julio Jones possibly coming to the Patriots. And we cooled a little bit on our enthusiasm,

but acknowledge that it's still very much a possibility. Another story that made its way around Patriots social media this weekend was the likelihood of Stephon Gilmore holding out to begin the 2021 NFL season and look there's a lot of speculation a lot of debate a lot of inference I guess is the best way for me to put, that Stefan may have already held out in areas in the 2020 season, coming in, you know, saying that there were issues or possible problems health-wise that prevented him from reporting on time during the off season's past. A lot of people are saying that they may continue this year. Stefan doesn't get his deal reworked that coming in on the current salary

that he's there with right now with about a $7 million salary is just not something that he's willing to do for the calendar year. Murph, we hear these stories all the time about Stefan and having the opportunity to have covered him over the past few years. Stefan has always been to me a stand-up guy. He's always been a great competitor on the field, someone that's willing to prove himself, someone that's willing to go out, but someone who also is keenly aware of his worth, as he should be as a pro. There's no question about it. When you look at the Stefan Gilmore situation, how likely do you think it is that

Stephon might hold out if the Patriots don't do something with his contract or dare I say it, even unload him before the season begins? Yeah. Right now, our two cornerbacks are probably criminally underpaid. We're talking about the best duo in the league. I'm sorry, anybody out there who doesn't agree. This is the best duo in the league. And $7.3 million for Stephon Gilmore is not going to get it done. And you can bet your bottom dollar. He was set to hold out last year before

they bumped him $5 million in his paycheck and he showed up. He was going to sit until you had to come in to get your year. And God, I forget. I think that's week. What week is that, Michael? Is that week eight? Week six that you have to report by to get your full year of accrued time? And they bumped him $5 million and he came in. If he doesn't get a significant bump from this $7.3 million, he will not be in a Patriots uniform this year. He will sit until he has to come in and be able to say, yes, I fulfilled my contract and now I'm a free agent. Yeah, absolutely.

I'm at 100% on it. 100%. I just went up. Yeah. You know, the more I think about it and whatnot, you can understand it from both sides. You can understand it from the Patriots side that they're trying to maximize their value. They're going to see what they can get away with. That's not because Bill is sitting there sticking pins in a doll that bears the number 24 on it right now yeah i think he holds

stefan gilmore in as high regard as anyone perhaps maybe more than anyone because he knows the value and he also knows the contract to get stefan services here and he's been everything is advertised no one's questioning that at all if the patriots were to trade him and i thank you for the correction on the 7.3 million if the patriots were to trade him no no you're absolutely right i'm glad that you did that that was a great drop in you you picked me up out of the fire but that's why that's that's that's that's another reason why i love this man folks he doesn't and he doesn't even look for the credit for it but I'm going to give it to him because he deserves it. But trading Stefan would add six point eight nine million to their cap savings. And that's a significant amount.

But when you look at what they would also have to swallow in terms of dead money, you're talking eight point five three million dollars. So it's, I think, very smart of the Patriots to maybe try to work something out with him, an extension or something of that type that's going to allow him to get maybe a little bit of a bump coming into this season, but also knowing that it's going to be a manageable situation if the two sides decide that they are going to move on from each other after the 2021 season. Got a big decision to make on jc jackson uh without question yeah exactly and uh to me i think that's the best way to uh you know to to hit it right now you mentioned bill is not enamored of of paying star veterans at this position um over an extended period of time he will bring guys in on a one-year, on a two-year deal. If you see an extension here, it might just be a year. Don't expect to see this as something that's going to keep Stephon Gilmore in a Patriots uniform for the rest of his life.

Remember, Bill Belichick is the guy who cut Ty Law. He released Ty Law. He let Daryl Revis walk out the door. Asante Samuel went and got paid somewhere else. There are two kinds of people in the world that are in Patriots uniforms. The guys who come here to win world titles and the guys who have won world titles and then go somewhere else to get paid. That's the way it works.

And so I hate to be Debbie Downer on a Monday, folks, but that's just the way I see it. Right. And I don't think you're being Debbie Downer. I think you're being Debbie Realistic or Rhonda Realistic. Instead of Debbie Downer, we'll call her Rhonda Realistic. I don't know where that came from, but it came from. It's just off the top of my head.

But in any case, I agree with you. I think that there is a level-headed approach that needs to be taken. And you did mention J.C. Jackson. And before we wrap up today, I did want to put this to you as well. Obviously, J.C. Jackson is someone that is developing a lot of interest throughout the league. He's slowly becoming aware, and he's slowly entering the collective consciousness of NFL fans everywhere. J.C.'s finally going to get his just due this year,

and obviously entered unrestricted free agency. The tender has been signed. The Patriots have him under contract for this year, but there is still a lot of uncertainty as to what's going to happen with J.C. Jackson beyond. Most people think that they want to work out a long-term deal with him, keep him in Foxborough, keep him in New England. He's the long-term future at the position. And he's a pretty good starting caliber quarterback.

There's no question about that. I love J.C. Jackson's game. But we saw what this Patriots defense looked like, especially the secondary, when J.C. had to carry the load alone without Stephon Gilmore. To me, the two questions here when it comes to trying to work something out with Gilmore, and that's why I'm so much in favor of that, is, is J.C. ready to take over as cornerback one in case Gilmore is traded, in case the Patriots do move on, and what the long-term future here of J.C. Jackson will be. If, in fact, the Patriots do bring both of these guys back this year, who is more likely to start the season, the 2022 season, in a Patriots

uniform, in your estimation, knowing what we know about all these players? Is it Stephon Gilmore, or is it J.C. Jackson? That's a good question, and I've got a good answer, and I think it's Stefan Gilmore. I believe JC Jackson is set to make his Butler tour of walking onto private jets to be brought in for interviews and things of that nature that we all saw a few years ago. And right now, I would rather see the money spent on a three-year deal to keep Stephon Gilmore here than to roll the dice with JC as the number one corner. Bill has been preparing for this the entire off season in, you can see it in the way that he attacked the draft in the way that he attacked free agency. He went out and got a bunch of players that can get after the quarterback from anywhere on the field, from up the middle, from the sides, from the second level.

He is going to this, this often this defense is about to remorph into somebody, into a defense that it's not going to put as much pressure and strain on the cornerback positions, on your deep safeties, because they're going to have somebody in their face constantly. Constantly, the pressure is going to be there. They're going to have to get balls out early. These guys are going to chase them down, and they are going to beat them up all game long. And when you do something like that, it's because you are looking at your future, and Bill is always looking at next year, always,

when he attacks a draft or when he goes out. It might start being implemented, but you know that it's going to be about what happens next year. We talked earlier about what happens on June 2nd. This is when players can bring in other guys, guys that are cut for salary cap reasons. This might be the reason that Bill didn't go after a cornerback early. A lot of people thought that, well, since he didn't do that,

this is what he's going to do. He's going to sign J.C. and he's going to, to a long-term deal, he's going to re-up with Gilmore and keep him happy. That doesn't necessarily, the two things don't necessarily coincide. But the way he attacked free agency and the way he attacked the draft do. He sees that this could be a problem this year and next year, and he wants to take care of that problem when there isn't a lot of help out there in free agency or in the draft where it made sense for him to take somebody. Murph, you lend your wisdom, your counsel like no other. That's why your family here at Locked On Patriots,

and that's why you always are. Great information, great insight on J.C., on Gilmore. Surprise, surprise, folks. I happen to agree with them. I think it's more likely that Stephon is in New England than J.C., but, boy, I'll tell you, I would love to lock up these two guys for as long as they can both wear shoulder pads. Such a fan of both of these players.

Right. And really, you know, I consider it an honor to be able to cover and analyze them as a part of my job. It really doesn't get any better than that. But you know what else it doesn't get any better than? Sharing the microphone with this fine gentleman each and every Monday. Folks, you should already be following him, but for any of our new listeners, please follow my good friend, the count of Murphy Fisto himself on Twitter at TeamMurph207. Murph, the content that you have been putting out on E2G Sports when it comes to

really everything, but primarily the expertise and the insight you provide in Major League Baseball for this site is absolutely point-click learn enrichment material. I highly recommend checking out the work that he and all the great writers over at E2G Sports are doing right now. Of course, I'd be remiss if I say never miss an episode of One Patriot's Place with Murph, our great mutual

friend Steve Balistrieri, the Patriot's bison himself, and of course the Countess of Clas herself, Claire Cooper. Bud, what can i say thank you again honored and humbled as always by your presence before i let you go today bud please enlighten our listeners on what they can expect from your great pen your great voice over at e2g sports thank you my friend too kind too kind um yeah i got a couple of nice pieces up over there right now an interview that I did with a local Charlotte businessman

who's looking to maybe lure the Oakland A's back to the East Coast. And that's a pretty good read. I've gotten some nice feedback on that. There are a few other pieces that I have down in the pipeline. There's some excellent, excellent writers over there at E2G, and I'm looking to expand that a little bit it's been nice to write baseball I haven't written baseball in quite some time and it feels really good to to not focus so much on on the New England area but but branch out so

please folks don't don't think it's all going to be Red Sox from me, or I'm sorry that it's all not going to be Red Sox from me. And, yes, One Patriot's Place has moved over to E2G. We are exclusively there now. You can find Steve, Claire, and myself in this afternoon. We'll be talking to Pat's cap himself, Miguel Benzan, and he will be shedding some more light on what's happening in New England and how maybe Julio can come here and Bill will still be able to ink Gilmore

to an extension. But thank you so much for having me here, bud. It's always a pleasure. And I'll see you next Monday if you want me back. Absolutely. You know we want you back. And folks, again, please check out the Charlotte piece that Murph is talking about.

Luring Major League Baseball down to Ric Flair country. How much better can you get than that? Well, you know what? He's going to have some competition because as much as I adore Ric Flair, you are the original Kiss Steel and Wheel and Deal and Limousine Rod, jet flying, son

of a gun. Woo! Gotta go work in the world. All kidding aside, bud, honored and humbled as always by your presence. In the meantime, stay safe and stay well, but we look forward to talking ball with you again here next Monday right here on Locked on Patriots. Thanks a ton. I'll be back.

Patriots fans, as always, your week is off to a great start with some hashtag LockedOnMurfMonday here on the pod. But there's still plenty where that came from when it comes to your daily coverage of the New England Patriots. So to ensure that you do not miss a single second of the action, subscribe, follow, and download the LockedOn Patriots podcast on platforms such as the Odyssey app, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts.

Just make sure that you are staying locked into Locked On Patriots. Once again, my name is Mike DeBate. I thank my good friend Thomas Murphy for his time, his insight, and his appearance on today's pod. But most of all, I thank you so much for listening and for continuing to make Locked On Patriots a daily part of your New England Patriots coverage. Until tomorrow, Foxborough faithful, stay safe, stay well, always be the change you wish to see in the world. Have a great day, everyone.