The Cowboys have made a habit in recent years of waiting until the breaking point to bring back key star players, whether it is Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb last season or, this year, Micah Parsons. Of course, the Cowboys could wrap up these proceedings earlier in the process, but Jerry Jones and son prefer the languid–and inevitably more expensive–route.
While Parsons has gotten the bulk of the attention, for good reason, the Cowboys do have another big-time contract brewing that should be of concern, that of cornerback DaRon Bland, the NFL record-holder for interceptions returned for a touchdown in a season, with five. That was in 2024, when Bland led the league with nine interceptions on the season and earned All-Pro honors.
But Bland suffered a stress fracture in his foot in 20224 and was limited to seven games, during which he did not pick off a pass. He also allowed a quarterback rating on passes thrown in his direction of 105.7, up sharply from the 60.8 rating he posted the previous season.
That puts some pressure on Bland to repeat his earlier success here in 2025. But there’s good reason to think he will–and that the Cowboys will need to again open the checkbook and pay a top-of-the-market rate.
DaRon Bland in L’Jarius Sneed’s Range?
That’s the speculation at Blogging the Boys, where Bland’s abilities were compared to those of former Chiefs star L’Jarius Sneed, and a suggestion that he could be in line for a similar contract to that of Sneed.
The site’s Rohan Chakravarthi writes: “Looking at other contracts, L’Jarius Sneed’s four-year, $76.4 million deal immediately comes to mind as a solid baseline. Sneed had 3.5 years as a full-time starter and was one of the best in man coverage, but Bland counters that with the ball production, making it a fair comparison.”
He also projects that, “A four-year deal would make sense for Bland, which would take him through his age-30 season, putting him in line to earn another deal if his play continues. The $20 million figure could very well be realistic, but my projection will fall just shy of that, as there’s a plethora of cornerbacks between the $19 million and $20 million range.”
He comes out with a four-year, $78 million deal for Bland.
Cowboys Will Need to Pay
His logic is sound, and Bland’s contract, at that rate, would land him in the top 10 in NFL corner deal, on a per-year basis. The problem, though, is that the rates on cornerbacks are going up, with new contracts for Derek Stingley Jr. ($30 million per year) and Jaycee Horn ($25 million per year) resetting the market.
Sneed’s contract is a 2024 contract. Bland will be signing a 2026 contract, with corresponding bumps in the salary cap.
Bland will likely want to be closer to that grouping than to Sneed. And with the Cowboys’ propensity to let these processes drag out, the market will only keep pushing forward, with players like Sauce Gardner due a new deal and, perhaps, Devon Witherspoon, Christian Gonzalez and others joining the mix.
The projection from Spotrac might be more along the lines of where the market on Bland will be in a year: nearly $24 million per year over four years, for a $95 million deal.
