FRISCO, Texas — The Dallas Cowboys filled a hole in their secondary by acquiring cornerback Kaiir Elam from the Buffalo Bills for two draft picks.
The Cowboys received Elam and a sixth-round pick in 2025 for a fifth-round selection in 2025 and a 2026 seventh-round pick. The fifth-round pick the Cowboys gave up is No. 170 overall, one of the four compensatory picks the team was awarded on Tuesday.
With Trevon Diggs rehabbing from a chondral tissue graft surgery to his left knee performed in January and facing an uncertain return to the field, the Cowboys needed to find a cornerback opposite DaRon Bland.
Elam, a first-round pick in 2022, has two interceptions for his career but has not recorded one since his rookie season, and he has been a healthy inactive for games. The Cowboys, however, have a history of taking chances on players selected with high draft picks by other teams, hoping a change of scenery will improve the level of play.
The Cowboys were in discussions with Baltimore Ravens free agent cornerback Brandon Stephens during the exclusive negotiating period before he opted to join the New York Jets, according to sources.
The Cowboys might not be done looking for cornerback help, having lost Jourdan Lewis to the Jacksonville Jaguars on a three-year, $30 million deal that included $20 million guaranteed.
Diggs has been limited to 13 games the past two seasons due to injury. He missed all but two games in 2023 because of a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee before his 2024 season ended with an unrelated issue to the same knee.
The rehab for the latest surgery could force Diggs, who signed a five-year extension in 2023, to miss some regular-season games.
In addition to Bland and Elam, the Cowboys have only Andrew Booth Jr., Kemon Hall and 2024 fifth-round pick Caelen Carson, who is coming back from shoulder surgery, at cornerback.
Elam, 24, is on the final year of his rookie contract.
