Dallas has locked up one of its All-Pro defenders for the long term.
The Cowboys agreed to terms with cornerback DaRon Bland on a four-year, $92 million contract extension that includes $50 million guaranteed, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported Sunday. The team announced Bland’s deal shortly after.
Bland’s average annual salary of $23 million makes him the sixth-highest-paid cornerback in the league.
“I’m so happy for him,” head coach Brian Schottenheimer said of Bland. “Just the way he’s worked. Shot onto the scene a couple years ago and made an immediate impact as a rookie playing nickel and doing things like that. To see him a couple years after that with all the pick-sixes. I’m so happy for him and his family. … He’s such a humble young man. But so well-deserved. He’s one of those guys that you love him as a teammate, you love him as a competitor. Doesn’t say much, but, man, he gives you everything he’s got.”
Bland, a one-time Pro Bowler and one-time All-Pro from his nine-interception 2023 campaign in which he delivered a record-setting five pick-sixes, is part of a prolific CB duo with Trevon Diggs. He had expressed a desire for a contract to come to fruition before Dallas plays in the Kickoff Game against the Eagles, and the Cowboys made it happen with four days to spare.
Bland has 14 career interceptions to go along with 164 tackles, 27 passes defensed and a forced fumble. He notably missed the team’s first 10 games last season due to injury, and did not deliver any INTs through seven contests after putting up a torrid pace of picks across his first two campaigns, but Bland has undeniably outplayed his expectations as a 2022 fifth-rounder.