CBS Sports: Dallas Cowboys Close in to Sign Veteran Star CB in a Blockbuster Deal.
One of the main topics of discussion within The Star is Daron Bland, the Dallas Cowboys, and the antiquated significance of the “outside” corner.
DaRon Bland hasn’t lost his job despite receiving more reps in the slot during these OTAs at The Star and others. It indicates that the Dallas Cowboys are depending on their most complete corner to help them overcome their challenges.
Due to a serious knee injury, Trevon Diggs is currently recuperating. A definite steal in the 2025 NFL Draft, Shavon Revel Jr. is also recovering from a knee ailment. Caelen Carson, a 2024 fifth-round selection, had a difficult rookie season, and the recently acquired Kaiir Elam still has a lot to show.
The cornerback room is in disarray and has many unanswered questions.
Bland, who can play well both indoors and outdoors, is thus being urged to wander about a little. Additionally, his money account won’t suffer as a result, unlike what some people believe.
As Bland’s contract renewal approaches, there is a rumor circulating Cowboys Nation that his utilization of slot corner might be exploited as leverage to control his future worth.
My buddies, don’t move too quickly.
Outside corners make a lot more than slot corners. That is beyond question.
Jordan Lewis, for example, just got the richest nickel corner contract in the NFL, a three-year contract for $30 million, after leaving Dallas for Jacksonville.
The NFL’s best outside corners? Their APY of $30 million is three times that of Lewis.
However, the league is evolving, making that market-based tendency more and more out of date.
WR1s are now lined up in the slot by offenses. With their compressed formations, powerful wideouts, and hard-nosed run action, even the 11 players that teams like the 49ers and Rams use have become more physical. If the slot corner doesn’t have his lunch prepared and ready for battle, he’s going to have a hard day.
Because the slot receiver is typically in motion or off the line of scrimmage, he must cover in space without being able to get his hands on the receiver he is paired with, in addition to being closer to the box and a cog in the run fits.
Just navigating traffic and rerouting receivers is quite tough, but when you throw in the fact that there is no sideline to act as an extra defense and that receivers are traveling in both directions, it becomes nearly impossible.
It’s not about inside vs. outside in the NFL these days. Who can stand up where it counts most is the key question.
The league is always changing. And that pendulum is currently swinging back toward physicality rather than elegance.
The Cowboys can’t take advantage of DaRon Bland’s ability to dominate in two positions, as he has previously demonstrated.
Bland is starting a contract year after leading the league in interceptions (nine) and setting an NFL record for pick-sixes (five), earning him a spot on the first team All-Pro and sixth in the 2023 Defensive Player of the Year vote.
