$22.5M, former All-Pro named Cowboys most overrated player in 2026
· Yahoo Sports
When the Dallas Cowboys extended cornerback DaRon Bland, it was meant to accomplish several things at once. First and foremost, Jerry Jones and the front office needed to show a commitment to the roster following trading away Micah Parsons. The justification of being able to afford many instead of one had to bear immediate fruit, thus less than a week after sending Parsons to Green Bay, Bland got a new deal.
Mixed in there was the team's clear frustration with their already-paid CB Trevon Diggs, whom the club had to snatc $500k back in offseason incentive payments for lack of participation. The team was also hopeful at the time that Bland had worked through his injury-riddled 2024 and was ready to resume his 2023 form that made him a First-Team All-Pro. Only now, it looks like none of what they intended played out in such a way.
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So much so, Bland was recently named as the Cowboys most overrated player entering the 2026 regular season by Bleacher Report's Brad Gagnon.
Dallas Cowboys: CB DaRon Bland
Quinnen Williams and Kenny Clark were also strong candidates with output that doesn't align with $20-plus million AAVs, but Bland is the clear-cut winner. The 2022 fifth-round pick has one good season under his belt, but that was enough to earn him a four-year, $90 million deal. He's missed significant time while being consistently rocked in coverage when on the field the last two seasons, all as the sixth-highest-paid corner in the sport.
After securing a 86.4 coverage grade in 2023 when he hauled in a league-leading nine interceptions and returned a record five for score, Bland's play hasn't been pretty the last two seasons. This is why the club moved to bring in experienced backups to shore up the position. Cobie Durant and Derion Kendrick both have extensive starting experience, and the club could easily look to the position in the 2026 draft. Corner is one of the few areas where there is legitimate starting-caliber depth in this lackluster class.
Fortunately, the Cowboys built protections into their big-dollar deal last August. With several deals last offseason, they finally began backloading contracts so that heavy bonuses were split between
Bland may be the seventh-highest paid CB currently, but his guaranteed money runs out after two years at just $18.2 million in cash per season. If he's released or traded after 2026, there's cap savings to be had, and he can be let go in 2028 or 2029 before big option bonuses kick in.
Bland's four-year, $90 million, $92 million-max deal is really a two year, $36.3 million pact with a series of team options.
This article originally appeared on Cowboys Wire: CB DaRon Bland named Cowboys most overrated player heading into 2026