The Dallas Cowboys acquired cornerback Stephon Gilmore in a trade with the Indianapolis Colts on Tuesday.
The 2019 Defensive Player of the Year was dealt to Dallas for just a fifth-round draft pick, according to NFL insider Adam Schefter.
Colts are trading five-time Pro Bowl CB Stephon Gilmore to the Dallas Cowboys, per source. pic.twitter.com/A31iKfgXyd
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 14, 2023
In Gilmore’s 11-year-career in the NFL, he has been named to two First-Team All-Pro teams (2018-2019) and to five Pro Bowl rosters (2016, 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021), as a member of the Buffalo Bills, the New England Patriots, and Carolina Panthers. He played a lone season last year with the pathetic 4-12-1 Indianapolis Colts, and made 66 tackles, 11 pass deflections, and 2 interceptions, according to Pro Football Reference. He also played in two Super Bowls as a member of the Patriots and won his only tile with them in 2019.
Gilmore should be an elite complementary cornerback alongside Cowboys’ All-Pro Trevon Diggs.
As long Gilmore (who is 32-years-old now) can still fly around a defense quickly and has no sudden drop off in his zone defense/press coverage skills, Dallas should have the best cornerback duo in the league.
Diggs has been named to Pro Bowl twice already so far in his three-year career and is just now entering his prime. He led the NFL in interceptions with 11 in 2021, and helped Dallas win a playoff game last season over the Tom Brady-led Tampa Bay Buccaneers on the road. Similar to Gilmore, Diggs is a lockdown cornerback who has no issues with getting his jersey dirty to make tackles.
With Diggs covering one side of the football field and Gilmore covering the other, the Cowboys are going to be really tough to throw the football against. They have two elite, world class corners defending their passing game now.
The terrific cornerback tandem of Diggs and Gilmore will gear up alongside the likes of All-Pro linebacker Micah Parson and Pro Bowl edge rusher Demarcus Lawrence. On paper, Dallas appears to have a top five defense in the NFL, and they probably do, but with an offense that can only score 12 points in a play0ff game, it might not matter. (RELATED: REPORT: Las Vegas Raiders Sign Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo In Hopes Of Contending For A Super Bowl)
The Cowboys could hold every quarterback that they play against to under 200 yards of passing on average each game next season, but if Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott can’t produce during a prime-time postseason game, I can’t envision Dallas making it past the second round of the playoffs again.