Stephon Gilmore is one of the bigger names remaining in free agency. The former first-round pick, 2019 Defensive Player of the Year, and 5-time Pro Bowler remains unemployed and seeking a spot on one of the rosters. Gilmore has suitors, and will likely have his pick, but would it make sense for the Dallas Cowboys to reunite with their former player from 2023?

Stephon Gilmore made his name in the AFC East with the Buffalo Bills and New England Patriots, spending his first nine seasons with those teams. Since then, Gilmore has spent the last four seasons with four different teams and spent the 2023 season with the Dallas Cowboys.

Many got excited about the idea of Gilmore and Diggs playing together in 2023, but Trevon Diggs suffered a torn ACL, preventing the world from seeing a potential top-league duo. Instead, Gilmore would play opposite side of an emerging DaRon Bland. Having Al Harris as the secondary coach and Gilmore locking down one side of the field, this likely helped Bland lead the NFL in interceptions in his breakout season.

For the cornerback room now, the Cowboys are in a tough predicament. Longtime nickel corner Jourdan Lewis signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars this past offseason. Trevon Diggs will likely miss the start of the 2025 season because of his injury. DaRon Bland missed most of last year with a foot injury, so he’s returning to the team fully healthy. The Cowboys got Kaiir Elam from the Buffalo Bills, but he has been underwhelming in Buffalo as a former first-round pick. So the Cowboys currently have Bland, second-year cornerback Caelen Carson, and rookie cornerback Shavon Revel Jr., who is also coming back from a big injury.

From the looks of it, the Cowboys should be on the market for a cornerback and it makes perfect sense to bring Stephon Gilmore in.

Gilmore will turn 35 years old in September, and teams would typically steer clear of cornerbacks at this age, but Gilmore continues to be a reliable player to lock down the opposing receiver.

Gilmore visited The Star in Dallas before the NFL Draft and left without a contract, but this doesn’t rule out Gilmore wearing the star in 2025.

Gilmore would permit the Cowboys to take their time on Trevon Diggs’ return. You don’t want to rush Diggs coming back too soon and doing more damage. The Cowboys could have Bland, Gilmore, and Revel Jr. as their three cornerbacks in Week 1, which feels like an upgrade from last year’s trio, which always saw Diggs and/or Bland out of the lineup. When Diggs returns, and if the secondary remains healthy, that’s when the team could decide if Gilmore or Revel Jr. would step aside for Trevon Diggs.

It baffles me Gilmore hasn’t stayed with a team for consecutive years because he has been a difference maker for any defense he’s been on. It would baffle me more if the Cowboys don’t reach out to Gilmore and try securing him on this new team and Matt Eberflus’s defense.