Cowboys, Jerry Jones avoid Micah Parsons repeat by re-signing All-Pro CB DaRon Bland ahead of Week 1

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FRISCO, Texas — Jerry Jones and the Dallas Cowboys avoided a significant headache in their secondary by re-signing 2023 All-Pro cornerback DaRon Bland to a four-year, $92 million extension before practice on Sunday afternoon. 

Bland, who was described by Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott as “not your most talkative guy” on Sunday, wouldn’t have been as public as now-departed All-Pro edge rusher Micah Parsons about not appreciating entering the final year of his rookie deal lacking long-term security. However, it could have been a big deal behind closed doors this season because of his potential role. 

“It’s [entering a contract year] always something you got to have in the back of the mind just a little bit because it was the last year of my contract, so it was always going to be on the back of my head,” Bland said after practice on Sunday. … “Yeah [it was important to get it done].”

Following the departure of Dallas’ longtime nickel corner Jourdan Lewis to the Jacksonville Jaguars in free agency this offseason, there has been a gaping hole at that spot. Bland began his career as a fifth-round pick in 2022 filling in for an injured Lewis, and he played in that spot, reeling in five interceptions — tied for the fifth-most in the NFL that season. He thrived moving to outside corner in 2023 for Pro Bowler Trevon Diggs after the latter tore his ACL in practice of Week 3 that year: Bland erupted for a league-leading nine interceptions, five of which were pick-sixes — the NFL’s single-season record. He also lined up outside in 2024, but it appears like Bland will have to return to the slot in 2025 with Lewis out of the picture once Diggs makes his season debut. 

New Cowboys cornerback Kaiir Elam, a first-round pick of the Buffalo Bills in 2023 who was acquired by Dallas in a trade this offseason, has been one of the top offseason performers in the team’s offseason program. However, Elam is much more suited to play on the outside, so when Diggs does return to action following his latest knee injury in 2024, Bland will likely have to return inside this year.

That will likely be what’s best for the Cowboys on the field in 2025, but that wouldn’t have been ideal for Bland in contract negotiations. Chicago Bears nickel corner Kyler Gordon, who re-signed on a three-year, $40 million contract in 2024, is the NFL’s highest-paid slot corner, but his $13.3 average per year salary ranks 21st among all cornerbacks around the league. Dallas’ extension they bestowed on Bland just days before the season prevents that headache as he now ranks sixth in the NFL among corners in average per year salary ($23 million). Of course, head coach Brian Schottenheimer denied this would have ever been an issue when CBS Sports asked him about the topic on Sunday.

Micah Parsons reportedly viewed by some Cowboys teammates as ‘egotistical, self-centered’ before Packers trade

Brad Crawford

“Well, we were going to be versatile with him no matter what because that’s the type of competitor that DaRon is. DaRon’s never said ‘Hey, I’m not going to play nickel, I’m not going to do this,'” Schottenheimer said. “He sees himself as an elite cover corner. I do too. He’s freaking amazing, but again, we’re going to move him around. It’s got nothing to do with the contract. If the contract wasn’t done, we would have moved him around as well. He’s just a stud of a young man and a damn good football player. I am so happy for him.”

When CBS Sports asked Bland himself if it’s easier to move back inside after getting paid, he nodded and began his answer with the word “yeah.”

“Yeah, now that the contract [is done], it’s a new drive,” Bland said. “A new motivation to keep going out there and now I got to prove it.”

Given Diggs’ and Elam’s supremely better fit on the outside, and the flexibility Bland’s inside-out skillset provides, the Cowboys had no problem making him one of the top-six highest-paid cornerbacks in the NFL. His ability to play like that led to Schottenheimer invoking seven-time Pro Bowl cornerback Jalen Ramsey in his prime as a good comparison for the schematic flexibility he provides the Cowboys. 

“It’s huge. Number one, it gives us the versatility and the multiplicity that we want. We can change up different personnel groupings. For a play caller, that can be really hard,” Schottenheimer said. “Because [at] certain times, it’s like where is he? It was like that for a long time with Jalen Ramsey. He’s inside, he’s outside, he travels, he doesn’t travel. I think that’s what’s so powerful for us. It’s not even that, he’s good at both which is really cool. There’s sometimes with guys that are really good outside corners and OK nickels. He’s not. He’s really good inside. He proved that as a rookie. He’s proved that this year. He’s also really good on the outside covering guys. That’s just a huge benefit for us. He’s a good blitzer, he’s a good tackler. The coverage skills speak for themselves. Like I said, it’s just invaluable.”  

Pairing that versatility with Bland’s “ball skills” that have resulted in 14 interceptions since 2022, tied for the second-most in the NFL in the span of his career, is why the Cowboys had no problem handing him the deal they did despite the 26-year-old missing 10 games last season. He suffered a stress fracture the last week of training camp in 2024, but he bounced back to provide steady play in coverage in what was a rocky, injury-plagued 7-10 campaign. Schottenheimer credits some of Bland’s instincts before breaking on the football to rack up interceptions to former NFL Defensive Player of the Year cornerback Stephon Gilmore. Gilmore played opposite Bland as the other outside corner in 2023 during the former fifth-round pick’s breakout All-Pro season. 

“Yeah, he does have incredible ball skills, but I also think he’s got incredible instincts. His ability to study the game and his knowledge of the game for a young player, relatively young, are uncanny. Like his ability to read splits and anticipate routes and things like that, I always think of Stephon Gilmore,” Schottenheimer said. “Those guys as they get older and they maybe lose a little bit of a step or something so they have to learn how to read splits and things like that but DaRon has just always had the ability to process things very quickly. Then he’s certainly got elite change of direction and ball skills, which is why the interceptions and the pick sixes per se have happened. Another guy fits perfectly in our defense. … Key, key piece for the Dallas Cowboys.”

Taking the football away is obviously the highest value a defender can provide in the NFL, but that doesn’t mean Bland still wasn’t shocked upon seeing the final terms of his new deal upon signing it on Sunday. 

“Kind of surprised and kind of just a little bit dumbfounded. I couldn’t believe it that I’m going to be making that much and do what I do,” Bland said Sunday after practice. 

Yes, he may have been “dumbfounded.” However, Bland’s approach toward his contract negotiations with Jerry and Stephen Jones was smart. Parsons took the bait when Jerry Jones threw some financial terms at him, and now he’s on the Green Bay Packers. Bland, like Prescott, deferred the Jones family to his agent.

“It was mostly my agent and the Cowboys communicating,” Bland said. 

That’s why Cowboys teammates can now approach both Prescott and Bland about how to survive extension talks with the Jones family and come out on the other side paid while still living in Dallas. 

“Proud of him. Super deserving. A guy that just comes in each and every day, not your most talkative guy, but leads with his actions, leads with this approach,” Prescott said after practice on Sunday. “One of the easiest guys, if you’re trying to figure out what should I do here, look up and see what DB is doing. I guarantee he’s going to lead you to the right direction. That’s a huge statement for those young guys. You don’t have to be a rah-rah, you don’t have to open your mouth and say a lot, but you have to focus on doing your thing and bringing others along. He’s been doing that.”

Now, the focus for Bland is to figure out where his long-term position may be. 

“I would say last year kind of even then I still didn’t have my official role, kind of still moving. Second year I was still a nickel, so I thought I was going to be a nickel,” Bland said, “Tre ended up getting hurt, so I got moved back to outside. So it’s just now trying to find a real spot that’s for me.”

Now, it’s safe to say that’s not the biggest problem in the world for the Pro Bowler: positional chaos is his normal. Bland claimed to not know where he’ll line up come Thursday night at the Super Bowl LIX champion Eagles in Philadelphia to kickoff the 2025 NFL season.  

“I don’t know yet,” Bland said with a chuckle. “I guess we’ll see by game time. … You get comfortable in the chaos. After dealing with it so much, you get comfortable with it and understand what things come with it.”

This news was originally published on this post .

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