The Dallas Cowboys‘ coverage has been almost fully occupied by news and information concerning the when and where of the extension of 3 x All-Pro defensive end, Micah Parsons, who is still sans deal.
Whilst the Cowboys and owner, Jerry Jones, have been chipping away at other extensions in the meantime: the team re-signed tight end, Jake Ferguson and defensive tackle, Mazi Smith, over the past few months; the primary focus is and should be on the former Penn State star.
Nonetheless, there are other high level players that need to be paid – and if they won’t be paid by Dallas, they will almost certainly get a big deal from another team.
One main player who falls into this category is DaRon Bland, the former fifth round pick and All-Pro corner, whose contract is up at the end of the season.
Will DaRon Bland’s Contract Negotiations Be Impeded By His Position?
Bland is the starting nickel-back for the Cowboys, next to Trevon Diggs and Kair Elam – who remain the team’s boundary cornerbacks.
Slot cornerbacks do not normally get compensated at the same rate as their compatriots on the exterior. But with Diggs having struggled to stay healthy over the past couple of seasons, and his play also suffered, it is quite possible that the former 2 x Pro Bowler ends up getting cut – which could both open up the cap space to re-sign Bland, and increase the need to retain top-level secondary players.
Marlon Humphrey is currently the highest paid inside cornerback, with his deal coming in at around $19.4 million/year. However, upon signing the deal in 2020, Humphrey was considered an outside cornerback, having only just been moved to the interior just after the start of the 2024 season.
A similar situation has arose with Bland, who has played a substantial amount of time on the perimeter before being moved inwards. Unfortunately for the Fresno State man, his move came before his extension.
What Will Bland’s Deal Potentially Look Like?
Even if Bland matches Humphrey’s per-year number, it is still a substantial ways away from the highest paid cornerbacks in the league like Derek Stingley Jr. and Sauce Gardner, who are both making around $30 million/year.
Garrett Podell of CBS Sports made a projection of what some of the Cowboys’ highest-priority extension candidates could receive in the form of an extension from Dallas, and they believe the number will come at a figure that supercedes Humphrey, but does not touch the heights of Stingley Jr. or Gardner.
“Given his ball skills and mostly lining up outside throughout his career,” Podell wrote on Tuesday, “Bland will be asking for top of the market money for a cornerback. A five-year, $101 million extension would rank Bland second at his position in contract total value and sixth in average per year salary ($20.3 million). The length of the deal would be advantageous to the team spreading out his money for salary cap purposes.”
$101 million is obviously nothing to sniff at, but if Bland feels like he can and should make much more than that, he may have to turn his sights elsewhere.
