With the Super Bowl now over, the Dallas Cowboys can now turn to the 2025 offseason and figure out how they can rebuild after a disasterous 2024 campaign. The first step would be taking the offseason more seriously than they did last year.
Hopefully that happens, and when it does the Cowboys can look forward to improving. While most team observers believe that needs to start with adding talent at defensive tackle or running back, there’s another position where the Cowboys are in dire need of help; cornerback.
It wasn’t supposed to be this way, the defense had two All-Pro CBs in Trevon Diggs and DaRon Bland leading the way, but injuries robbed Dallas of having them line up together last season. That also appears to be the case heading into the 2025 season.
Diggs was returning from an ACL tear suffered in 2023, then hurt his knee late last season and missed the last six games of the year. Unfortunately, the
timeline for his return isn’t clear. What began as an expected return in training camp, has now turned into near the start of the regular season, with some speculating that Diggs might not play until the second half of 2025, if at all. That’s not good news, two apparent major knee injuries in under the span of two years looks like it will limit the effectiveness of the cover corner.
Bland is returning for the final year of his rookie contract, but the hope is the organization will get ahead of his deal running out and extend the
pick-six king. With Diggs hurt, Bland is the top CB on the roster, but the fourth-year man out of Fresno St. was also hurt last season and suited up for just seven games. Bland will be 26-years old in July and the Cowboys must hope he stays healthy because there’s not enough quality at CB behind him.
Caelen Carson is currently the third CB on the roster, and if Diggs is out, he’d be elevated to a starter. There were high hopes for the fifth-round prospect from the 2024 draft, but injuries saw him play just six games as a rookie. The lack of playing time limited his growth and
he didn’t have a positive impact. Carson is heading into his second year and the hope is he can stay healthy enough to play up to his potential.
With Diggs availability up in the air, having just one bonafide corner in a league that eats up bad ones is not ideal.
There are other options on the roster, but none should elicit confidence. Andrew Booth was traded to the Cowboys last August and the former second-round CB has now shown he can’t play with two teams. Dallas also has veteran corner Tony Pride, a journeyman.
With free agency and the draft approaching, the Cowboys need to seriously consider adding one or more CBs.
The team could start by re-signing Jourdan Lewis, who was the team’s best CB last season. Lewis has spent each of his eight years in the NFL with Dallas and is considered one of the better slot corners in the league. The Cowboys allowed Lewis to test the open market last year but brought him back on cheap one-year deal and he paid dividends.
Good CBs are hard to come by and Lewis’ 2024 performance could make him an expensive option to keep.
Lewis has said he’d like to return, but he understands it’s a business and could make a bigger payday somewhere else. Not re-signing him could mean big trouble for the secondary.
If Lewis comes back, that gives the Cowboys two solid CBs to start the year with the hope that Diggs returns and Carson works out. If the veteran CB signs elsewhere, Dallas will be in an even bigger hole at the position. Either way, that’s not enough talent at CB.
The Cowboys need to strongly consider selecting a CB high in the draft, and the first round needs to be in consideration. Edge rusher, wide receiver, DT and RB have become all the rage in draft circles for the team, but
CB cannot be overlooked. As it stands now, the Cowboys simply don’t have enough depth or talent at CB to ignore the position in the draft.
Who would’ve thought this could be the case when the team employs two All-Pros? Life comes at you fast in the NFL.
