The Cowboys made their biggest cornerback bet on DaRon Bland, and now they’re waiting to see whether it pays off.
Dallas signed Bland to a four-year extension worth up to $92 million, with a base value of $90 million, just four days before the 2025 season opener. The contract came with a $22 million signing bonus and more than $49.3 million in total guarantees, a clear sign the team was buying into the player who looked like one of the league’s best in 2023.
That version of Bland was impossible to ignore. He led the NFL with nine interceptions, set a league record with five pick-sixes and earned first-team All-Pro honors. Dallas paid him like a top-10 corner because of that season, and because of that season alone.
What the Cowboys have gotten since has been a lot less convincing.
The first setback hit in 2024 training camp, when Bland cracked a bone in his left foot. That injury kept him out for the first 10 games.
When he returned, he played seven games, but the takeaway was underwhelming: no interceptions and 41 tackles. Even then, Dallas stuck with him, betting the foot was the only thing standing between Bland and his old form.
Then the same injury came back in 2025. Bland broke the exact same bone in the same foot.
He played through it for 12 games and posted a career-high 73 tackles, but he still had only one interception before the foot finally gave out in December. That sent him to injured reserve and led to another surgery in January.
Now the Cowboys are left trying to make sense of a huge investment in a player whose impact has faded since that breakout year. The most reasonable hope is that Bland can at least return to the steady form he showed in 2022, but the bigger concern is obvious: these foot problems may not be going away.
Dallas also has other issues in the secondary. Trevon Diggs was waived on Dec. 30 because of injuries and attitude concerns, and Shavon Revel Jr. is still working to settle in.
That puts even more pressure on Bland, who now has to be more than healthy. The Cowboys need him to make plays again, and whether that happens may come down to one thing: how his foot holds up through training camp.
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