‘Dominant’ Cowboys Rookie on Track To Start in Opener

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East Carolina cornerback Shavon Revel in 2024.

The Dallas Cowboys drafted cornerback Trevon Diggs in the second round of the 2020 NFL draft. Diggs was an NFL All-Pro by 2021.

The Cowboys drafted cornerback DaRon Bland in the fifth round of the 2022 NFL draft. Bland was an NFL All-Pro in 2023.

So, how long will it take rookie cornerback and 2025 third round pick Shavon Revel?

ESPN’s Ben Solak thinks Revel, an East Carolina product, will get his chance to make a big impression on the Cowboys sooner than later and is the likely starter at the outside cornerback start opposite Bland for the season opener against the Philadelphia Eagles.

Diggs is still recovering from an ACL tear suffered in 2024 and not likely to be available for the start of the season.

“A big opportunity awaits the third-round rookie, who will almost certainly see starting reps when the season begins, as Trevon Diggs is still recovering from a January knee surgery and could start the season on the PUP list,” Solak wrote on July 16. ” … Revel fell in the draft for injury concerns. But before his 2024 season was cut short by an ACL tear, Revel was a dominant small-school corner with 16 pass breakups and three interceptions over 15 games. If Revel looks healthy in camp, expect to see him starting against A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith in the first game of the 2025 season.”

Revel going against Brown and Smith in his first NFL game might be the definition of out of the frying pan and into the fire.

Revel Projected As First Round Pick Before Injury

Before he tore his ACL early in the 2024 season, Revel was projected as a first round pick on most draft boards. He gives Dallas perhaps the best value pick in the entire draft and a fresh start at cornerback.

“I was like, Hey, it might be a chance I go to them ‘Boys,” Revel told DallasCowboys.com after he was selected. “It was kind of crazy though, because me and my family were talking about it the whole time, the whole month, this whole year, just talking about it like, ‘It might be a chance.’ ”

Revel, 6-foot-3 and 193 pounds, had 3 interceptions in his last 15 games at ECU, including a 50-yard return for a touchdown in 2024 against Appalachian State before his injury.

Cowboys Have Crazy/Tough Decision Ahead

If Revel truly does become a full time starter for the Cowboys right away, he represents an incredible value on a 4-year, $6.5 million contract.

Those are the type of savings the Cowboys are praying for at this point, with Diggs constantly injured and in the midst of a nightmarish, 5-year, $97 million contract extension signed in 2023 that runs through 2028.

The problem with Diggs is he’s constantly injured. He missed 21 games over the last 2 seasons — 15 games in 2023 and 6 games in 2024. The problem with Bland is he’s in the final year of his 4-year, $3.96 million rookie contract and could be in line for a massive free agent contract.

Spotrac projects Bland’s market value to be in the range of a 4-year, $94.2 million contract in 2026 — one that would put him among the NFL’s highest paid cornerbacks.

Tony Adame covers the NFL for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Washington Commanders and Denver Broncos. A veteran sports writer and editor since 2004, his work has been featured at Stadium Talk, Yardbarker, NW Florida Daily News and Pensacola News Journal. More about Tony Adame