'I was always put in the back seat': New Cowboys CB Kaiir Elam confident he'll succeed after trade from Bills

The Dallas Cowboys desperately needed cornerback depth the moment they lost the versatile Jourdan Lewis to the Jacksonville Jaguars with Pro Bowler Trevon Diggs still working his way back from a season-ending knee injury.

That's why the Cowboys traded for Kaiir Elam, the 23rd overall pick pick in the 2022 NFL Draft by the Buffalo Bills. Dallas acquired Elam and a 2025 sixth-round selection in exchange for a 2025 fifth-round pick and a 2026 seventh-round pick. 

Elam was never able to find his footing in Buffalo, starting only 12 of his 29 games played in three seasons while battling through injuries and not gelling with the franchise's vision for the cornerback position. He totaled two interceptions his rookie year but hasn't registered any in each of the past two seasons. (Elam did total two of his career three tackles for loss in 2024.)

Elam's 72.3 passer rating against as the primary defender in coverage ranks 103rd out of 255 NFL players who have had at least 80 passes thrown their way since 2022, the span of his career. His passer rating against was the fifth-best in Buffalo through his first three seasons. 

Elam didn't feel his development was prioritized in Buffalo despite working hard and being a first-round pick. 

"Coming in to Buffalo, I was a kid that just wanted to improve and learn and really show off my talents. But I was always put in the back seat," Elam said on a conference call Monday. "So I continued to put my head down and work, and [I] continued to make plays throughout the season and in the playoffs and stuff like that. This time around [in 2024], I got less and less opportunities. I just took everything I learned from there and all the baggage and the improvements I felt like I needed to make and just packaged it up and worked on it every day. So I don't really see it as a negative. I really just see it as a growing opportunity for me to go shine somewhere else."

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When discussing the improvements he's looking to make entering his fourth NFL season, Elam was blunt: He needs playing time in order to fully assess his body of work, something he didn't consistently have with the Bills. 

"First, it starts with opportunity, right? Coming in early in my career, I wasn't blessed with the opportunity to be a full-time starter, so right there it's like, 'What can I do to take advantage of any opportunity I do get,' you know what I mean?" Elam said. "Not to point a finger or anything like that, but I just felt like with me being confident in myself and making plays with my little opportunities I did get, I would expect more, but that wasn't the case for me. 

"I just continue to put my head down and keep grinding to get better and improve. I just felt like as a younger player, I was able to learn from the sidelines and learn from my mistakes now to help me succeed now. This isn't something I take for granted. You can ask anybody man. I really love the game, and I just really feel like it's my time to win. So I think that's where I can take away from my career so far."

Bills general manager Brandon Beane took accountability for Elam not working out in Buffalo, saying he will continue to root for the 23-year-old and that going to Dallas could give him a real chance. 

"I'm going to get emotional because I love Kaiir. It didn't work. And it stinks. And it's not for a lack of effort on any side here," Beane said March 14, via Buffalo's local NBC TV affiliate. "The guy worked so hard. He had some bad breaks ... This game is about confidence, and [cornerback] is a hard, hard position. Kaiir had some good moments here, he really did. But in the end, he and I had a conversation after the season about where he was going into his last year [of his rookie deal]. ... Ultimately, it's on me. I made the selection that didn't work out. I own that. ...  I'm rooting for Kaiir, I really am. ... I'm confident maybe a reset for him gives him a chance. I'm rooting for him."

Elam has already felt the love early on from new Cowboys defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus, someone he spoke to the second he entered the team's team facility. 

"I'm confident because I'm coming into a staff that really believes in me. I don't think they would have made a move if they didn't," Elam said. "I don't need a red carpet or anything like that. I just want to be able to earn it with a fair opportunity. That's it. So that's what I'm going to strive every day to do. Like I said, I'm coming home with a chip on my shoulder." 

So, where will that opportunity come? The Cowboys have an opening at nickel following Lewis' departure to Jacksonville and vacancy (albeit temporary) at outside corner with Diggs' knee injury. He will have the chance to compete with Cowboys 2024 fifth-round pick Caelen Carson for a shot to play on the outside at the start of the 2024 season, but he said he could also line up at nickel if that's what's needed. 

"I can play both," Elam said. "In college [at Florida], they needed me [outside] because I was the best corner guy. I played the boundaries [outside] in my junior year of college. [When] a guy wasn't playing well I went in at nickel and played very well, so I have a little versatility. I could play anywhere in the secondary honestly. I just need the opportunity, the full opportunity to go take the ball away, show my physicality and to be the playmaker that I know I am and that I was once was in college as well."

Both Diggs, in 2021, and Bland, in 2023, are former first-team All-Pros who have led the NFL in interceptions, and that's why Elam is thrilled to grow alongside them and develop his own game. 

"I have nothing but respect for those guys who've done it at a high level, taking up all the way at a high level, who've got the accolades to show for it, you know what I mean?" Elam said. "Just me coming into that group, honestly, I think it's just on that. I mean add to the team level and just continue to add to the competition part of it. ... I hope all of us grow together and allow us to win, but yeah, I really have full respect for those guys."

Coming to Dallas also represents a homecoming for Elam, whose father Abram -- a safety -- played his rookie year with the Cowboys after going undrafted in 2006. The elder Elam also returned to Dallas to play the penultimate season of his seven-year NFL career with the Cowboys in 2011, and the younger Elam maintains he remembers both stops in Dallas.

"I do, I remember his first time here and second as well," Elam said. "My mom was sending me pictures, so kind of a surreal, full circle moment. It's pretty cool. I just believe it was a blessing and also a privilege to be traded to the Cowboys. The big market and just the tradition here is something that I'm in love with right now. Being able to just go prove myself and help this team win, that's all I'm committed to right now."