DaRon Bland’s Future With Cowboys Grows Murkier After Sauce Gardner’s Massive Extension

The Dallas Cowboys' penchant for delaying contract extensions is coming home to roost yet again. While they wait to give Micah parsons a new deal, the prices for other homegrown stars who are due for extensions keep going up.

The Chiefs laid the framework for a Tyler Smith extension after they extended standout guard Trey Smith on Tuesday. The Jets have just done the same with DaRon Bland after they inked star cornerback Sauce Gardner to a four-year, $120.4 million deal that makes him the new highest-paid CB in football.

This complicates Dallas' hopes of keeping Bland beyond the 2025 season. Here is a look at the highest-paid cornerbacks in football based on annual average value:

🏈Sauce Gardner: $30.1M
🏈Derek Stingley Jr.: $30M
🏈Jaycee Horn: $25M
🏈Jalen Ramsey: $24.1M
🏈Patrick Surtain: $24M

It remains to be seen if Bland will play the nickel or out wide this season. Boundary corners make markedly more money that slot guys, but Bland has played both positions at a high level. Injuries may force Bland to play on the outside, but his versatility will work to his benefit at the negotiation table.

Bland was limited to seven games in 2024 due to a broken foot. While he authored one of the most prolific seasons for a cornerback in NFL history two years ago, he needs a bounce-back season if he hopes to crack $20 million per year in his extension.

The top slot CBs make between $12 and $18 million per year. Bland could probably set a baseline of $15 million per year if he wanted to considering he played out wide during his historic 2023 campaign when he tallied five pick-sixes and nine interceptions.

It remains to be seen if Dallas will choose between Bland and Trevon Diggs, who has played just 13 games since he inked a $97 million extension in 2023, but it could be headed that way. A big season from Bland could really complicate that, but Diggs has the luxury of already being under contract.

As noted above, the Cowboys still have to pay Micah Parsons, who will get at least $40 million per year, and Tyler Smith, who deserves at minimum $20 million per year. They already have Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb on the books for $60 million and $34 million annually, respectively.

Like any position, the cornerback market is going to continue to evolve. Bland is the ultimate storyteller as far as his Cowboys future, but Gardner's mammoth extension is yet another harsh pill Dallas must swallow as it looks to keep its core together.