FRISCO, Texas — The cornerback position is undeniably one of the Dallas Cowboys‘ biggest remaining needs ahead of the 2025 NFL Draft that kicks off on Thursday.
All-Pro corner Trevon Diggs suffered a season-ending knee injury that required surgery in December, and reliable nickel corner Jourdan Lewis signed a three-year, $30 million contract that included $20 million guaranteed with the Jacksonville Jaguars in free agency. Outside of 2023 All-Pro DaRon Bland, the rest of Dallas’ cornerbacks room is relatively unproven. Caelen Carson, a 2024 fifth-round pick, and Kaiir Elam, a 2022 first-round pick of the Buffalo Bills whom Dallas acquired in a trade this offseason, stand as the next two options on the depth chart for Week 1. Carson dealt with a nagging shoulder injury all season before undergoing season-ending surgery in December.
That’s why current free agent and former Cowboys cornerback Stephon Gilmore visited Dallas at The Star, the Cowboys’ team facility, on Tuesday. Gilmore, who played one season in Dallas in 2023, was spotted walking through the lobby of the building through the glass of the team’s press conference room while Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones, COO and EVP Stephen Jones, head coach Brian Schottenheimer and VP of player personnel Will McClay were conducting their pre-draft press conference.
“Well, we are always looking to make our roster better, which is what I would say about any player,” Cowboys COO and EVP Stephen Jones said Tuesday when asked about Gilmore after he walked by. “Obviously, we did some work in free agency and via trade with [cornerback Kaiir] Elam. Certainly we’re fired up with [2024 fifth-round pick Caelen] Carson coming back off an injury that really limited him after he had that after the first three or four games. We do feel like we got some good corners, but we’re always looking to make things better. Now we have players who we’d like to think love to come back and say hi. It doesn’t always mean because they’re in the building that a deal is in the works, but I think in general our player acquisition I always say it’s year-round. We’re always looking to get better. We see that opportunity, then we’ll do it. Obviously there’s a big focus on the draft right now, but it doesn’t rule out that we’re not looking at trades or still looking at signing other players.”
At this time last year, the Cowboys were in talks with ex-running back Ezekiel Elliott about a Dallas return that eventually happened. Gilmore, the 2029 NFL Defensive Player of the Year who is a five-time Pro Bowler and two-time first-team All-Pro (2018-2019), is set to enter his 14th NFL season in 2025 after being selected 10th overall out of South Carolina by the Buffalo Bills in the 2012 NFL Draft. He produced a 60.3 passer rating as the primary defender in coverage in 2023 with the Cowboys, which ranked ninth-best in the NFL among 39 players with 80 or more passes thrown their way. The 34-year-old, who will turn 35-years-old on Sept. 19, produced a 78.0 passer rating as the primary defender in coverage with the Minnesota Vikings in 2024, which ranked 19th among 32 players with at least 85 passes thrown their way in 2024.
Gilmore checks some of the boxes Schottenheimer laid out when asked what Dallas’ looks for in a cornerback, standing at six feet tall and weighing 190 pounds. He could also be a mentor for the youth in the cornerbacks room like he did for Bland during his breakout 2023 season in which he led the NFL with nine interceptions. Five of them were interception return touchdowns, which set an NFL
“There’s certainly measurables. You want length, you want size. The ability to play press man to man. [coverage]. The big thing for us defensively ‘Flus [defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus] is this way, there’s no house guests, so everybody’s got to be willing to tackle and support the run with the thing that we do,” Schottenheimer said. “Again, they come in all shapes and sizes man.”
If the Gilmore development follows the same timeline as Elliott’s return to the Cowboys a year ago, he could return to Dallas in the next week or so. Certainly no guarantees, but it’s definitely something to keep an eye on.
This news was originally published on this post .
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