{"id":224002,"date":"2025-03-22T11:15:25","date_gmt":"2025-03-22T15:15:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=224002"},"modified":"2025-03-22T06:37:44","modified_gmt":"2025-03-22T10:37:44","slug":"dallas-cowboys-cornerbacks-free-agency-jourdan-lewis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2025\/03\/22\/dallas-cowboys-cornerbacks-free-agency-jourdan-lewis\/","title":{"rendered":"The State of the Dallas Cowboys Cornerbacks After Free Agency"},"content":{"rendered":"

Everybody can\u2019t be kept. That\u2019s what the Cowboys continue to navigate in this free agency frenzy. It\u2019s a harsh reality when it means losing a valuable, defensive asset in Jourdan Lewis. It nods at the possibility with the recently acquired Kaiir Elam. But overall, it highlights a huge question mark at the Dallas Cowboys cornerback position.<\/span><\/p>\n

Dallas Cowboys Cornerback – Say Goodbye to Jourdan Lewis<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Why the Cowboys Couldn\u2019t Keep Lewis<\/strong><\/h3>\n

There were three big names vying for huge checks this off-season. All three were on defense. And all three deserved every dime they were worth \u2013 Micah Parsons, Jourdan Lewis, and Osa Odighizuwa. The Cowboys came out swinging, completing Odighizuwa\u2019s deal<\/a> almost as soon as free agency opened. A Parsons deal is tougher, needing more significant cash flow, but if the Cowboys are serious about him, they should get it done this year rather than next. Already, his price tag has gone up with Myles Garrett collecting a new deal too<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

That leaves Lewis out of the mix. The talented star has only known Dallas as home in the NFL. With injuries biting both Trevon Diggs<\/a> and DaRon Bland<\/a> for pretty much the entire 2024 season, Lewis carried the team. He spoke as a veteran for most of the defensive side of the ball and kept a level head through most of the turmoil the team faced. Losing Jourdan Lewis is an all-around loss to the defense. One that isn\u2019t easy to recover from.<\/span><\/p>\n

Kaiir Elam Added as a Dallas Cowboys Cornerback<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The Cowboys gained Elam and a 2025 sixth-round pick from the Bills<\/a>. It isn\u2019t a steep price to pay, especially since the Cowboys will still need to draft another cornerback anyway. Elam has a lot of growth to do. He isn\u2019t stepping directly into Lewis\u2019 shoes on day one. It would be difficult to do since Lewis has been in the league nearly three times as long. In fact, Elam\u2019s total stats for his career are comparable to Lewis\u2019s stats for just 2024. There\u2019s a lot of upward potential.<\/span><\/p>\n

But that can be said about most of the Dallas Cowboys cornerbacks. Most of the season depends on whether Diggs and Bland can remain healthy. Even if they can\u2019t, the Cowboys need a powerful nickelback. Caelen Carson showed flashes,<\/a> but he still needs development too. Josh Butler looked promising for the Cowboys. Although he only played five games, he managed 21 total tackles and did his job of staying on his receiver.<\/span><\/p>\n

There\u2019s potential in several players. What\u2019s lacking is promise. That\u2019s what the new cornerback coach in David Overstreet II will have to deal with. New defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus<\/a>\u00a0previously managed strong turnovers, some of which dealt with the backfield. Both of these guys will need to get together to make an effective plan geared toward growing these young players rapidly.<\/span><\/p>\n

Dallas Cowboys Cornerbacks from the Draft<\/strong><\/h3>\n

What the Cowboys are likely depending on is using the draft to boost the cornerback room. The problem here remains the same. It will be up to the coaching staff to develop those players in time for game time. There are more pressing needs than the cornerback room for corners to go high in the draft. More than likely, a few of the Cowboys fifth-round picks will be dedicated for the spot. The only question is will it be enough for what they hope to accomplish?<\/span><\/p>\n

Main Photo: Tim Heitman – Imagn Images<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Everybody can\u2019t be kept. That\u2019s what the Cowboys continue to navigate in this free agency frenzy. It\u2019s a harsh reality when it means losing a valuable, defensive asset in Jourdan Lewis. It nods at the possibility with the recently acquired Kaiir Elam. But overall, it highlights a huge question mark at the Dallas Cowboys cornerback […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5238,"featured_media":224011,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[19,54],"tags":[7422,9870,1756,9051,5267],"class_list":["post-224002","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cowboys","category-editorials","tag-dallas-cowboys-news","tag-daron-bland","tag-jourdan-lewis","tag-kaiir-elam","tag-trevon-diggs"],"modified_by":"David Latham, Managing Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224002","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5238"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=224002"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224002\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":224012,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224002\/revisions\/224012"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/224011"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=224002"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=224002"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=224002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}