New Cowboys cornerback Stephon Gilmore excited to make secondary No. 1 in NFL

Long-time Cowboys fan Stephon Gilmore is excited to add his piece to the Dallas secondary and hopes to make it the No. 1 unit in the NFL next season.

Discussing his trade from the Colts to the Cowboys on Thursday, Gilmore answered questions about how good the defense can be now that they’ve shored up the cornerback position.

“I think we can be as good as we want to be,” Gilmore said. “You just can’t really talk about it. You got to go out and do it. So I’m looking forward to putting the work in with these guys, getting to know them and us helping each other out to be the best secondary we can be.”

Dallas’s secondary was already No. 1 in takeaways last season and now, they’re adding a corner with 31 career grabs to boost the group even further.

Gilmore will line up opposite the 2021 league interceptions leader Trevon Diggs. Although Diggs’ numbers dropped off in 2022, he still added three more picks to bring his career total to 17 in three seasons.

“It’s going to be fun,” Gilmore said of playing with Diggs. “They got to throw it somewhere. One of us is going to get tested. Just got to be able to make the plays when they come my way. One of us is going to be making plays.”

Gilmore still waiting to pick up Diggs jersey

After the Gilmore trade news broke, reporters dug up Inside the NFL footage of the new Cowboy trying to exchange jerseys with both Diggs and star linebacker Micah Parsons after the Colts matchup this season.

Micah Parsons and Trevon Diggs fought over who would get Stephon Gilmore’s jersey after the Cowboys played the Colts in December pic.twitter.com/slayGvNuWC

— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) March 14, 2023

Gilmore gave props to both defenders on Thursday and said he still needs to acquire a Diggs jersey at some point.

“Both of those guys are great players,” Gilmore said. “I told both of them that I wanted that jersey after the game… I got mad at one of my teammates because he got Diggs’ jersey. I’ve still got to get that now that I am here.”

The veteran cornerback shared that his father and uncle are diehard Cowboys fans and he, in turn, has been a fan since childhood.

“I’ve been a Dallas fan my whole life,” Gilmore said, via Jon Machota. “Once I heard the news I was so excited.”

The former South Carolina standout will be playing for his fourth team in 12 years since he entered the draft and went No. 10 overall to the Bills in 2012.