Following the departure of slot cornerback Jourdan Lewis, who signed a three-year, $30 million free agent contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars in March, the Dallas Cowboys face a “critical challenge in their defensive lineup,” according to two NFL analysts who cover the Cowboys.
The challenge is simply that, with Lewis gone, the Cowboys depth at the slot, or “inside” corner position will be tested unless Jerry Jones decides to make a move to fill the role. On the other hand, according to analysts Marcus Mosher and Landon McCool of the daily Locked On Cowboys podcast, Dallas could sign an outside corner, allowing 2022 fifth-round draft pick Daron Bland to take over the slot on a permanent basis.
“Rasul Douglas is a free agent who played with the Bills last year and played pretty well early in the season. He was fantastic with the Packers from ’21 to ’23 before he got traded at the deadline,” Mosher said on the Thursday podcast.
Douglas will be entering his ninth season since being drafted in the third round back in 2017 by the Philadelphia Eagles. But the Eagles waived him in 2020 and since then, Douglas has bounced around. He played the 2020 season with the Carolina Panthers, then both the Houston Texans and Las Vegas Raiders signed and cut him before the West Virginia product caught on with the Green Bay Packers.
Douglas intercepted five passes, returning two for touchdowns, in his first season in Green Bay, but the Packers traded him to the Buffalo Bills in October of 2023, for a third-round draft pick.
Outside Corner Daron Bland Would Move Back to Slot
Bland was drafted as a slot corner in 2022 but was moved to the outside position the following year when two-time Pro Bowl corner Trevon Diggs suffered a torn ACL in a practice session prior to Week Three.
Bland went on to lead the NFL in interceptions with nine that year, setting an NFL record with five returned for touchdowns and was named a first-team All-Pro. But last season, Bland himself went out with a stress fracture in his foot that required surgery.
Douglas, however, “is somebody that can play on the outside right away, and that allows you to move Daron Bland in the slot,” Mosher contiunued.
“He’s going to be assumed to be 30-year-old corner you give him a one-year deal and you’re basically you’re renting him the first half of the season. You’re getting a veteran that can help in the run game,” the Cowboys expert said. “I think Rasul Douglas is the play here and that allows you to put Daron Bland in the slot just giving you the most flexibility.”
Douglas Could Comfortably Fit Under Cap
The Cowboys currently have $31.9 million in salary cap space, according to the NFL financial site Over the Cap. So what would signing Douglas, an unrestricted free agent, cost Dallas?
According to the sports business site Spotrac, Douglas was paid $7.75 million by the Buffalo Bills last year, but his market value according to the site, is substantially higher than that.
The site assigns Douglas a market value of $35.7 million over a three-year contract, or $11.9 million per year. But the Cowboys may prefer to follow Mosher’s recommendation and offer Douglas a one-year deal.
