The Dallas Cowboys’ secondary was in trouble after the first day of free agency as they did not re-sign veteran cornerback Jourdan Lewis. Instead, Lewis signed a huge three-year deal with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

That was not ideal for the Cowboys as Trevon Diggs is banged up, leaving DaRon Bland and Caelen Carson as the only starting options from last year’s team. Nevertheless, Dallas went to the trade market to solidify their cornerback room before the start of the new league year.

According to Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network, the Buffalo Bills have traded cornerback Kaiir Elam and a sixth-round pick to the Dallas Cowboys in exchange for a fifth and future seventh round picks.

Full trade: The #Bills will receive fifth- and future seventh-round picks from the #Cowboys for Kaair Elam and a sixth-rounder, per source.

— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) March 12, 2025

Elam was the Bills’ first-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft (No. 23 overall) and just finished his third year in Buffalo. However, after his playoff performance a couple of months ago, the young cornerback needed a change of scenery.

Last season with the Bills, Elam recorded 26 combined tackles, two tackles for loss, two pass deflections, and a fumble recovery in 13 games (four starts). The former first-round pick wasn’t the best in pass coverage, possessing a 70 completion percentage allowed on targets, a 104.9 pass rating allowed when targeted (career-high).

However, Elam only gave up one receiving touchdown. The young cornerback’s PFF stats from the regular season backed up his play. He had a 67 coverage grade (69th among 223 eligible cornerbacks).

But in the NFL playoffs, the young defensive back’s pass coverage grade nosedived to 40.3 (51st among 62 cornerbacks).

Last year, Dallas made a trade during the preseason for Andrew Booth Jr., which did not work out. However, Cowboys fans hope this trade for Elam will help the secondary as they try to bounce back from a disappointing 2024 season.