ARLINGTON, Texas -- Disaster struck the Dallas Cowboys on Saturday, just 15 days away from their Week 1 season opener at the Cleveland Browns.
Cowboys 2023 First-Team All-Pro cornerback DaRon Bland, who led the NFL in interceptions (nine) in 2023 and set the league's single-season pick-sixes record (five), will be out for the six to eight weeks after undergoing surgery to repair a stress fracture in his foot. Dallas announced in a statement that Bland "experienced foot discomfort" in Oxnard, California at training camp, which led to him getting medical imaging done to confirm the extent of the injury.
A year ago, Bland, a 2022 fifth-round pick, stepped up his game as an outside corner following two-time Pro Bowl cornerback Trevon Diggs tearing his ACL in practice prior to the Cowboys' Week 3 game at the Arizona Cardinals. Now, Dallas will once again be relying heavily on a young fifth-round pick corner in rookie Caelen Carson.
The 22-year-old out of Wake Forest earned the respect of three-time All-Pro edge rusher Micah Parsons, among others, during the last month out at camp in California.
"I think Carson, he flashed a lot," Parsons said on Wednesday at training camp. "They realized that pretty early, and now he's not playing the preseason games so he can kind of see where he's going in his direction, in his career. He's going to play a lot. We have a great group there. We had a lot of injuries the last two years, and now we have some depth at the [cornerback] position, which is really good."
Parsons' remarks about Dallas' depth at corner didn't hold true for even a week following the news of Bland's injury, and their 2024 cornerback room doesn't have a five-time Pro Bowler and former NFL Defensive Player of the Year around to also help lessen the blow of the injury like they did in 2023 with cornerback Stephon Gilmore. Gilmore, age 33, was a free agent for nearly the entirety of the preseason before signing a one-year, $7 million contract with the Minnesota Vikings on Aug. 18.
The presence of Gilmore was something Bland credited routinely throughout last season during his ascendance. With that in mind, here are four current free agent corners who could chip in, primarily as depth pieces, in the Cowboys' secondary alongside Diggs, Carson and nickel corner Jourdan Lewis.
Age: 31
Notable stats/accomplishments: Four-time Pro Bowler, 2020 First-Team All-Pro, two-time NFL interceptions leader (2018, 2020), 29 career interceptions (second-most in NFL since 2016)
Howard is one of the NFL's most decorated cornerbacks of the last five to six years, making either a Pro Bowl and/or an All-Pro team in four of five seasons from 2018-2022. During that stretch, the Dolphins ran man coverage at the highest rate in the NFL, on 45.9% of those plays. The Cowboys ran man coverage on 36.1% of their defensive snaps in 2023, the third-highest rate in the entire NFL.
Sure, new defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer has been making tweaks to Dallas' defense as he succeeds Dan Quinn, but he isn't reinventing the wheel. That means Howard could potentially be a scheme fit. One thing to weigh with Howard is his legal process regarding allegations of sharing revenge porn.
"It's like I told the defense the first day I got here," Zimmer said earlier this offseason. "'This is a different deal for me. Usually when I come in, the defense is not good.' And they're pretty darn good. ... We have to advance some of the things they were doing good and try to improve on the things they weren't doing as good."
Age: 28 (turns 29 on Sept. 18)
Notable stats/accomplishments: 2017 first-round pick of the Tennessee Titans (18th overall), four career interceptions and 56 passes deflected in seven NFL seasons (83 games, 77 starts)
Jackson has been steady cornerback throughout his career. He hasn't produced at an elite level by any means, but still under 30, he could be nice depth signing for Dallas. His 68.6 passer rating as the primary defender in coverage ranked 14th in the NFL among 39 players with at least 80 passes thrown their way in 2023. He may have lost a step from earlier in his career, but Jackson might be a fit if not asked to do too much.
Age: 34
Notable stats/accomplishments: Eight-time Pro Bowler, three-time First-Team All-Pro, 2010's All-Decade Team member, 36 career interceptions since entering in 2011 (second-most in NFL)
Patrick Peterson is far and away the most accomplished cornerback available, and he has a legitimate case to be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame one day. However, he is also one of the oldest options available at age 34 with 13 seasons of NFL experience after being selected fifth overall in the 2011 NFL Draft by the Arizona Cardinals.
Peterson lined up at corner most of 2023 with the Pittsburgh Steelers before moving to safety after the injury bug tore up their safety position. Adding him would likely be a move to have an experienced backup and mentor behind Carson.
Age: 28 (turns 29 on Nov. 17)
Notable accomplishments: 2021 Pro Bowl selection, 2021 NFL leader in passes deflected (23), Super Bowl LIII champion with New England Patriots, 26 career interceptions (second-most in NFL since 2018)
J.C. Jackson was once of the best cornerbacks in football early in his career playing in head coach Bill Belichick's secondary with the New England Patriots. The Los Angeles Chargers thought so as recently as two years ago, signing him to a five-year, $82,5 million contract in free agency during the 2022 offseason. Things don't work out for him on the west coast, and the Chargers traded him back to New England along with a 2025 seventh-round pick in exchange for a 2025 sixth-round pick in October last season.
Jackson will also be suspended for the first game of the 2024 NFL season for violating the league's personal conduct policy, so that's worth noting if Jerry Jones considers signing him. He could maybe be a contributor as a backup in Mike Zimmer's Dallas defense.
