Ranking the Best NFL CB Duos Ahead of the 2024 Season - Maurice Moton, Bleacher Report
Dallas’ DBs unsurprisingly top this list of the best corner duos in the NFL.
1. Trevon Diggs and DaRon Bland, Dallas Cowboys
Speaking of playmaking ability, the Dallas Cowboys cornerbacks have certainly left their mark in that aspect.
Moreover, the Cowboys have the only All-Pro cornerback duo in these rankings. Trevon Diggs made the list of elite players in 2021, and DaRon Bland did it last year. Both earned recognition by forcing turnovers at a jaw-dropping rate.
In 2021, Diggs led the NFL in interceptions with 11, returning two for touchdowns, and he logged 21 pass breakups. He followed that up with a 2022 Pro Bowl campaign, registering three interceptions and 14 pass breakups.
Bland recorded a league-leading nine interceptions and etched his name into record books with the most pick-sixes (five) in a single season.
Bland, 24, isn’t just a highlight playmaker, though. Between his rookie and second-year terms, he saw significant improvement in his allowed completion rate (71.4 to 59.5 percent) and passer rating (82.2 to 60.8).
Dallas should be the favorite to lead the league in interceptions and pick-sixes with Diggs and Bland on the field together in 2024.
See AlsoLions OC Ben Johnson finally talks why he didn’t take head coaching jobInside Access: Dallas Cowboys OTA Practice | 2024The Cowboys' starting strong safety in 2024 is a 3-man race ⋆The Cowboys Are at an Inflection PointThough the Cowboys have lost defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, new play-caller Mike Zimmer should be able to get the best out of Diggs and Bland.
Zimmer hasn’t coached since the Minnesota Vikings fired him after the 2021 campaign, but his team’s defenses finished within the top 10 in takeaways for the 2019 and 2020 terms.
Under Zimmer, Diggs and Bland could break multiple records, which is why they’re the No. 1 cornerback duo.
Why Mike Zimmer is back in his element as the Cowboys’ DC - Todd Archer, ESPN
Mike Zimmer is going to do it his way.
“This last couple weeks when we go out here and we’re doing the (Phase 2 of the offseason program) stuff, it’s been a lot of fun to get out with the players and start to understand them and try to teach them as much as I can about not just the position but the other positions and why we do certain things,” Zimmer said. “I think that’s been the best part.”
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With the Cowboys, he is looking at using at least four new starters compared to 2023.
“It’s like I told the defense the first day I got here. I said, this is a different deal for me. Usually when I come in, the defense is not good. You know? They’re pretty darn good,” Zimmer said. “So it’s a little different for me because 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. But for the most part they’ve played pretty darn good, and we’re going to try to accentuate that and maybe be a little bit more technique-oriented, maybe a little bit more disciplined. Some of those things.
“At the end of the day, we’ve got to do it the way I want it done. I know if you try to come in and do somebody else’s thing, it just doesn’t go well.”
Agent’s Take: How Cowboys’ Dak Prescott contract predicament could have been avoided - Joel Corry, CBS Sports
Dallas dragging their feet is once again what has cost them.
Conventional wisdom suggested the Dallas Cowboys would get a done deal with quarterback Dak Prescott early this offseason. The 2023 NFL MVP runner-up’s $59.455 million 2024 salary cap number was thought to be untenable. Equally important, Prescott has provisions in his contract preventing Dallas from designating him as a franchise or transition player in 2025 should he play out the four-year, $160 million deal he signed in 2021 and a no-trade clause. Instead, the Cowboys did a small contract restructure to lower Prescott’s 2024 cap number to $55.455 million.
Negotiations have moved at a snail’s pace despite Cowboys owner Jerry Jones recently stating he wants to keep Prescott. There reportedly have not been any substantive contract discussions. Jones also said he would like to see “more leaves fall.” One of the leaves to fall a couple of weeks ago was Jared Goff. The Detroit Lions signed their quarterback to a four-year, $212 million contract extension, making Goff the NFL’s second-highest-paid player at $53 million per year.
Final thoughts
The Cowboys missed the opportunity to sign Prescott for nearly $10 million per year cheaper two years earlier with their actual approach to contract extensions. Prescott could have been signed to a third contract most likely through the 2028 season with Dallas continually being proactive.
Prescott on a $50 million-per-year deal would be a good value given how the quarterback market has continued to develop and the type of season he had in 2023.
Reports suggest again that CeeDee Lamb could be first major Dallas Cowboys extension to happen - RJ Ochoa, BloggingTheBoys.com
The first big contract down the line may be in the wide receiver room.
A lot of things seem to separate the Cowboys from the collective pack these days and one of them is how they are approaching their offseason in general. The Cowboys chose to spend free agency mostly as a wallflower which is par for the course and not really surprising, but they have been similarly slow to get extensions done for their major players as well over the last few months and in the process have drawn a ton of skepticism.
June is the final month of the year without any sort of real NFL activity and it therefore offers the most idle-y of idle hands. Will that time bring us an extension for one of Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb and/or Micah Parsons?
Perhaps. But odds are escalating on who the first one could be.
It appears that CeeDee Lamb has the strongest likelihood of getting an extension from the Cowboys first among the major three
Back in the early days of the new league year reports emerged that the Cowboys had a priority when it came to their extension candidates. It was reported to be CeeDee Lamb.
Even if you are someone that wants to see the team extend all three players involved here, there is a strong argument that Lamb is the extension that should carry the most urgency given the state of the market (in terms of deals that could happen to escalate the price) at each respective position.
CeeDee Lamb, WR, Dallas Cowboys
Latest on negotiations: During the draft, Jones said he “wanted to see some more leaves fall” when it came to some of the contracts the Cowboys would like to complete. Shortly thereafter, Detroit’s Amon-Ra St. Brown and Philadelphia’s A.J. Brown signed deals averaging $30 million and $32 million, respectively. While those might be trumped-up figures with funny math, there is little doubt Lamb’s contract will be in or above that neighborhood.
If more leaves fall, such as a Justin Jefferson deal with Minnesota, then the price for Lamb could go even higher. Of the Cowboys’ big three deals for Prescott, Lamb and Micah Parsons, the talks with Lamb could begin in earnest soon, with an eye on getting finalized in training camp. He has skipped the offseason program for the first time and worked on his own, but Lamb has gotten in multiple throwing sessions with Prescott. — Archer
