Agree it shouldn’t be mandatory to submit a cover letter in the process because that would indeed just be noisy and also defeat my process of checking who goes the extra mile - and as we all know too there are people with so interesting resumes or experiences that they’re likely to get a call/interview no matter whether they attach a cover letter or not! (I still suggest you don’t risk it for jobs you’re really keen on - watch one less Netflix episode that night and write that cover letter! ;)