Just three weeks stand between the Dallas Cowboys and the start of 2026 OTAs. While the offseason has not fully come to an end, Dallas and the other 31 NFL franchises have made almost all of the significant moves they will make before the start of training camp.
Dallas’ roster looks significantly different from what it did at this time last year, particularly on the defensive side of the ball. With that thought in mind, today we continue our series ranking the top 10 players on the Cowboys roster for
the 2026 season.
#9) DaRon Bland
Age: 26
Years Pro: 4
NFL Awards: 1x Pro Bowl (2023), 1x All-Pro (2023)
2025 Recap: 2025 was a pivotal season for fourth-year cornerback DaRon Bland. After a historic 2023 campaign in which he led the league with nine interceptions and was named an All-Pro, Bland struggled to stay healthy in the 2024 season and ended up playing in just seven games.
Unfortunately for both Bland and the Cowboys, issues stemming from the foot fracture that sidelined him for most of the 2024 campaign still lingered. Bland ended up missing two weeks early in the season and was clearly never 100% the whole year. After dealing with discomfort throughout the entirety of the regular season, Dallas decided to place him on injured reserve for the season’s final three weeks.
When he was able to stay on the field, Bland played fairly well. While he did not have the game-changing playmaking ability we saw from him in 2023, he was far and away the best cornerback on Dallas’ roster. With how bad Dallas’ defense was as a whole, that isn’t saying much, but compared to the other players the Cowboys threw out there, Bland was pretty clearly their best option.
2026 Preview: While you wouldn’t classify Bland’s 2025 campaign as a disaster, he certainly did not live up to the four-year $90M extension he signed back in August of 2025. With all the problems his foot has given him in the past few years, it’s fair to question if he will ever be able to get back to the level of player he was in the 2023 season.
There is hope that the foot surgery Bland underwent at the start of 2026 will help eliminate lingering issues he was having from his first surgery, but that is far from a guarantee. If the Cowboys want to be a competitive team next season, they will need Bland to stay on the field and play well. Cornerback is arguably the weakest position on Dallas’ roster, and Dallas is desperately relying on Bland to steady the ship and play like a true number one corner.
It’s hard to predict health, but if Bland can stay on the field, the switch to Christian Parker’s defensive scheme should benefit the 26-year-old cornerback. Bland is at his best when he can read quarterbacks, jump routes, and play with vision on the football. Parker will almost certainly use these strengths to his advantage as he tries to get the most out of the fifth-year corner.
Prediction: DaRon Bland has his most productive season since 2023, recording five interceptions and playing in 15 regular-season games
