Pro Football Rumors
We saw an early rumor from ESPN’s Todd Archer that Cowboys cornerback DaRon Bland “could be” out for a couple of weeks, but Clarence Hill Jr. of All City DLLS confirmed that Bland will be out for at least two weeks with a right foot injury.
The 26-year-old missed 10 games last year due to a fracture in his left foot after leading the NFL with nine interceptions, 209 interception return yards, and five interceptions returned for touchdowns in his sophomore campaign in 2023 — the five scores in a single season were an NFL record. Bland was able to return from injury for the final seven games of the season, and though he didn’t bring in any picks, he still graded out favorably per Pro Football Focus (subscription required), ranking as the 33rd-best cornerback out of 116 players graded at the position.
Dallas only had one of their starting cornerbacks at a time in 2024. Trevon Diggs missed all but one of the final seven games Bland returned for at the end of last year as his knee began to flare up and eventually required major knee surgery. To deal with both injuries, the team leaned heavily on nickelback Jourdan Lewis, who’s no longer with the team, and fifth-round rookie Caelen Carson, who’s currently on injured reserve.
The absence of Bland hurts a bit more considering that Diggs didn’t appear to be ready for a full workload in Week 1. With Bland and trade acquisition Kaiir Elam played all 62 defensive snaps in the team’s season-opening loss, Diggs was only on the field for 26 snaps. With Carson on IR, rookie third-round pick Shavon Revel starting the season on the reserve/non-football injury list, and second-year backup corner Josh Butler starting the season on the reserve/physically unable to perform list, the secondary in Dallas is getting thin.
The team’s healthy cornerbacks consist of Elam, seventh-round rookie Trikweze Bridges, Reddy Steward and long-time reserve corner C.J. Goodwin. Diggs is listed without an injury designation but still may be working his way back to full strength. Goodwin, a veteran special teamer, hasn’t made an NFL start since his rookie year in 2016, Steward appeared in one game for the Bears last year, and last week was his second NFL game appearance.
Things may be getting desperate in Dallas. A two-week absence for Bland may be manageable, but the Cowboys may feel need to fill out some depth at the position. Veteran cornerback Stephon Gilmore remains unsigned as a free agent, as does former Chargers corner Asante Samuel Jr. Samuel is still a free agent likely because of his injury issues, so he might not seem appealing to the Cowboys, but Gilmore started 15 games in his age-34 season in Minnesota.
Regardless, Dallas will hope to avoid a repeat of 2024 with Bland. Perhaps he’ll be back with no issues in two weeks’ time, but if there’s any risk of further injury to their young star cornerback, they might do well to...
