‘Excellent!’ Cowboys Mike McCarthy Scouting Report: Brandin Cooks & Stephon Gilmore

The Dallas Cowboys traded for veteran wide receiver Brandin Cooks and cornerback Stephon Gilmore earlier this offseason.

When the Dallas Cowboys traded for veteran wide receiver Brandin Cooks and cornerback Stephon Gilmore in March, the appeal was obvious. 

Gilmore, the 2019 NFL Defensive Player of the Year, brings a proven corner to a defense that has led the NFL in takeaways in each of the last two years.

And Cooks, a nine-year veteran with over 8,500 career receiving yards, provides depth to a receiver room that struggled mightily with injuries a season ago. 

But in the early stages of OTAs, the duos impact has been in more ways than one.

“Getting your body right,” wide receiver Michael Gallup said via The Athletic. “That’s all [Cooks] keeps preaching. He talks to everybody, ‘When you are done with this or you’re done with that, make sure you stretch. Make sure you do what you’re supposed to do so you can stay in the league as long as you possibly can.’ That’s one of the biggest things right now. Football, that’s going to be there. We got in the league for a reason. But he’s over here talking about how you stay in the league. That’s the knowledge he’s bringing.”

Gilmore, a five-time Pro Bowler joins a secondary alongside Trevon Diggs, Jourdan Lewis, DaRon Bland and Nahshon Wright.

Luckily for Diggs - the NFL's interception leader in 2021 - the 32-year-old cornerback has been a familiar face since being drafted by Dallas in 2020. 

“I’ve been talking to Gilmore since I got into the league,” Diggs said. “I’ve always been asking him questions. Now I got him on my team, so I can bug him every day.

“(I talk to him) about how to stay consistent and how to slow the game down even more. When I watch him, he literally plays in slow motion, but he’s really fast. He’s so smart and … he makes it look so easy. I want to learn how to do that and learn how to just take my game to the next level.”

Despite Dallas only being in the preparation stages for next season, head coach Mike McCarthy has already been blown away with the two additions. 

“Two excellent veterans,” McCarthy said. “Just their veteran experience and their abilities speaks for itself. They’ve been everything we thought they would be. The professionalism is top notch. They both have made impacts in their position rooms, and obviously me being with the offense and being around Brandin, just so happy he’s here. They both have made an impact already.”

The Cowboys are hopeful that these moves can propel them to their second NFC East title over the past five seasons. 

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You can find Riley Sheppard on Twitter @RileyDSheppard

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