NFL training camps begin in mere weeks, but former Defensive Player of the Year Stephon Gilmore remains unsigned. The 34-year-old cornerback spent last season with the Minnesota Vikings and has bounced around, despite still playing well, with one-year deals over the past four years. But as he waits on his next team, he seems to be sending the Dallas Cowboys a message with his latest comments about what he's looking for before signing — a message that says "pick me".
Appearing on The Money Down podcast this week, Gilmore made it clear that he still believes he has a role to play for an NFL team, but he's simply looking for "the right situation". More importantly, he reiterated that finding such a place is what's holding this up as he's not just looking to stick around only to stick around.
"I want to play this year, it's just got to be the right situation," Gilmore said. "It's got to be the right situation for me. I'm not just gonna sign anywhere. ... I still love the game. I can still contribute. It's just got to be the right place."
When he talks about the desire to essentially sign somewhere that makes sense for him and the team, it's hard not to read between the lines that the veteran Gilmore wants to sign somewhere that he'll be given the opportunity to play and, to use his words, contribute. While the Cowboys aren't alone in this, they would certainly offer him that, and the familiarity from having him around in the 2023 season only makes that more enticing.
Stephon Gilmore sounds like he wants to end up back with the Cowboys
While Dan Quinn is gone and the Cowboys coaching staff has undergone some major changes since Gilmore was donning the star on his helmet, he obviously knows the organization and the majority of this team well. Perhaps more importantly, Dallas is quietly going into training camp facing a bit of uncertainty in the cornerback room.
Trevon Diggs is a candidate to start the season on injured reserve. Meanwhile, it's not a guarantee that rookie Shavon Revel Jr. will be ready by Week 1 as he continues to work his way back from a torn ACL suffered last year in college either. That would leave the Cowboys with DaRon Bland as the only proven cornerback on the roster, joined by Kaiir Elam and Caelen Carson, both of whom have promise, but haven't delivered on that yet in the NFL.
Thus, especially early in the year, having a veteran presence like Gilmore could help stabilize the Dallas secondary in a way they might need it. While the 34-year-old showed some decline in coverage ability last season with Minnesota, he was a stud the year prior with the Cowboys and also maintained a high-level of run defense. Not to mention, his leadership could be invaluable to a still-young position group as both a mentor and on-field general in the defensive back group.
While Gilmore didn't explicitly mention the Cowboys, when you look at what he's saying he wants in regards to the 2025 season, it's all the boxes that Dallas would check at this point. He might as well be John Cusack with a stereo lifted above his head. Let's hope Jerry Jones digs Peter Gabriel, I guess.