In 2023, Dallas Cowboys cornerback DaRon Bland was tabbed as the best in the league at his position. He was first-team All-Pro, and recorded a league-high nine interceptions, five of which he returned for touchdowns, a record. He had shown promise as a rookie fifth-round pick out of Fresno the previous year, going picking off five passes.

He allowed a quarterback rating of 82.2 when he was targeted in his first season, which is excellent. That plummeted to 60.8 in Year 2, which is elite. And it was based off of those two years that the Cowboys decided to grant Bland a four-year, $90 million contract extension last offseason.

That was despite the foot injury Bland suffered in training camp in 2024, an injury that required surgery and kept him out for the first 10 games of last season and rendered him ineffective when he did play. In seven games, Bland had no interceptions and allowed a rating of 105.7. And from the beginning of this season, it was clear that Bland was still having problems with the foot–he had one interception, allowing a 103.3 rating.

DaRon Bland Foot Injury Torpedoed His 2025

Fixing Bland is probably the first step to fixing the Cowboys’ woeful collection of defensive backs, and to that end, Bland had a second surgery to repair his foot on Tuesday. The good news is that he should be ready to take the field when the Cowboys go to Oxnard this summer–and, perhaps, even before then, when the team gathers for OTAs in the spring.

ESPN’s Todd Archer noted, “As reported last week, CB DaRon Bland had surgery on his left foot today performed by Dr. David Porter, a consultant for the Colts. Second surgery on his foot in as many years. Expectation is he will be ready for the offseason program, but the main focus is training camp.”

Cowboys CBs Headlined by DaRon Bland, at Least for Now

Bland missed Weeks 2 and 3 this season, and attempted to come back but was clearly still not himself. By Week 15, with the Cowboys out of the playoff mix, the team decided to move him to injured reserve and end his season.

“He has been everything you could ask for relative to his rehab, relative to his competes,” Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said in December. “He’s done the best that he’s had to work with as it turns out with his injury. He’s thumb’s up.”

As things stand, Bland is the closest thing the Cowboys have to a known commodity at cornerback, and with two foot surgeries in two years, he is not much of a known commodity. Beyond Bland, the only corners on the Cowboys roster next year are Shavon Revel, Caelan Carson and Trikweze Bridges.

Cowboys Young CBs Struggled in 2025

Revel was a third-round rookie last year, but was coming off an ACL tear and was clearly outmatched in the seven games he played. He received a Pro Football Focus grade of 35.3 this season, which rated 113th out of 113 corners in the NFL. Carson, a fifth-rounder in 2024, only played 211 snaps but his 54.8 grade would have rated him in the 90s.

Bridges was a seventh-rounder in 2025 and had a grade of 49.3, which would put him near the bottom of the league.

The Cowboys, of course, are in the process of hiring a defensive coordinator, and the hope is the new guy can fix the defensive backs. But the team will need a serious influx of new personnel for that to happen, no matter who gets the job.