Realistic NFC trade targets for the Tennessee Titans before the deadline
By Will Lomas
Tennessee Titans trade targets from the Carolina Panthers
Stephon Gilmore, cornerback
Let’s get weird.
So this is the last NFC team on the list and they are last because they are such a strange team right now and they could be the one that makes the weirdest moves.
Gilmore honestly wasn’t even on my radar until I saw this tweet from Mina Kimes:
Listing the weaknesses for NFC playoff teams and it's pretty much cornerback, cornerback, cornerback, which got me thinking...I bet the Panthers could flip Stephon Gilmore to a contender for a higher pick than the one they sent.
— Mina Kimes (@minakimes) October 25, 2021
They probably won't do it, but they could!
Right now the Carolina Panthers’ depth chart at cornerback is stacked:
-Jaycee Horn (1st round pick on I.R.)
-Stephon Gilmore (replacement for Horn who is a free agent after this year)
-Donte Jackson (free agent after this year)
-C.J. Henderson (recent trade on a cheap deal)
-Keith Taylor (rookie starter)
-A.J. Bouye (slot corner)
If the Panthers are out of the playoff hunt (they are) then you have to shift focus to 2022. The presumed starters would have to be Horn, Taylor, and Bouye until they figure out a deal for Donte Jackson.
The Panthers clearly value Henderson more than they value Gilmore because they traded a third-round pick for Henderson and a sixth-round pick for Gilmore.
Right now the Tennessee Titans are banged up at cornerback and they could use a high-end stopgap to finish out the season. Trading for Gilmore could mean that Kristian Fulton isn’t rushed back into action too quickly which makes him even more valuable. As crazy as it sounds, a deal for Stephon Gilmore makes more sense now than it ever has before.
Gilmore could start his time with the Titans by taking over for Greg Mabin and starting opposite Jackrabbit Jenkins, then when/if everyone comes back healthy the Titans could use Gilmore and Fulton on the boundary and Elijah Molden and Chris Jackson in the slot.
Even after the Julio Jones trade, the Tennessee Titans are set to have seven picks in the 2022 NFL Draft (1st, 3rd, 4th, 4th, 5th, 6th, 6th ). If the Panthers traded a 6th round pick to get him, the Titans could do something like swapping the compensatory pick in the 4th round with the Panthers 5th round pick.
Meanwhile, this would give the Titans another player set to hit free agency after this year, which would mean a higher likelihood of getting compensatory picks in 2023.
Long story short, the Titans could end up getting Stephon Gilmore and a 3rd or 4th round compensatory pick in 2023 in exchange for moving down a dozen spots on Day 3 of the 2022 NFL Draft.