FRISCO, Texas — Among those in Las Vegas this week taking in the Super Bowl festivities are a handful of Dallas Cowboys who have been making the rounds with the media availabilities, including wide receiver Brandin Cooks and cornerback Stephon Gilmore – with the latter taking in his final guaranteed weeks with the team before hitting free agency in March.
The two reflected on the season's abrupt end in 2023 after the Super Wild Card loss to the Green Bay Packers, as Gilmore echoed the feelings that were felt even immediately after the game and how falling short of expectations still hurts with the Super Bowl set to kickoff this weekend.
"You never want to lose in the playoffs, especially against a team that you thought you could handle," Gilmore said on The Ticket on Friday.
Despite the loss, Gilmore sees an opportunity for the Cowboys to still make a run in 2024, and he was open about wanting to be a part of it ahead of free agency discussion.
"For sure, I want to be back," Gilmore told The Fan. "I for sure think we have the pieces to get to where we want to be, and I want to be a part of that. March is when free agency starts, so hopefully we can get something done. I want to run it back with B. Cooks and all of these guys, have the opportunity to play with Bland another year and Trevon coming back off the ACL."
The Cowboys enter an important offseason – one that Jerry Jones made headlines for a couple of weeks ago when he said they would "not build it for the future" by going all-in on what they have. For Gilmore, he sees a similar need to reach the ultimate goal, even knowing that his offseason will look a bit different as he recovers from shoulder surgery that is expected to sideline him for a good amount of time.
"I think we have enough," he told The Fan. "If I'm back, we have to make some moves to fix the things we weren't well at last year to be better. You gotta leave that up to the GMs and coaches and the people in the front office to make those decisions."
One of those offseason decisions included Mike Zimmer being pinned as the expected choice for the next defensive coordinator on Thursday, as Gilmore would see another familiar face if he were to return to Dallas in 2024.
"Zim is a great coach," he told The Ticket. "He worked behind me at my Pro Day back in 2012. Every team he's been on, he's had a great defense. He'll be a great coach for the Cowboys."
