The Dallas Cowboys have agreed to a contract extension with cornerback DaRon Bland. According to reports it is a four-year extension worth $92M.

The world of the Dallas Cowboys is still processing the trade of pass rusher Micah Parsons that happened on Thursday, but in the aftermath of it the front office pledged to use their savings from it (as in from the contract that they did not give Parsons) on other would-be extensions and players in free agency next year. We can give them their legitimate flowers on this. They did so and only took a couple of days to get on the board in that capacity.

Bland is a playler who it has made sense to get a deal done with for some time now. A fifth-round pick in 2022, Bland was set to enter the final year of his rookie contract for the team. He first became eligible for a new deal this offseason and while Dallas got it done with just four days to go before the season starts, this is the type of thing we have asked of generally. Get these extensions done in the earliest window possible so as to prevent future problems.

Everyone remembers the 2023 season in which DaRon Bland set the NFL record for most interceptions returned for a touchdown. He did this after fellow cornerback Trevon Diggs was lost for the season very early on, a domino falling that led to Bland kicking to the outside. It remains to be seen what is going to happen with Diggs this season, in terms of when he will make his debut, but the Cowboys have seemed intent on playing Bland in the slot (this all seems to cast even more doubt on Diggs’ long-term future with the team). Maybe that is the vision for him long-term with this extension, with Shavon Revel (when he is healthy as well) playing along the outside with someone else. The Cowboys do have a lot of draft capital in the wake of the Parsons trade, after all.

Bland’s APY is $23M per year on the extension, but obviously we need to see what things look like once the specifics of the contract come out. That comes in north of A.J. Terrell, but still south of Patrick Surtain. As we say all of the time. there is a financial benefit to getting these things done in the earliest possible timeframe (generally speaking) and likely leads to a larger willingness to work from the player side.

There is still a lot going on, not to mention a game to play on Thursday, but this is a very good thing.