The Cowboys’ front office has been busy during the offseason, sending away lots of draft capital to bring in players like George Pickens, Kenneth Murray, Joe Milton, and Kaiir Elam. Pickens was clearly brought in to be WR2 across from CeeDee Lamb, Murray will fill in for the loss of Eric Kendricks, and Milton will be QB2 behind Dak Prescott. Elam, though, comes into an interesting situation. While he was never a full-time starter during his three years in Buffalo, Elam is expected to have a significant role on the Cowboys defense, according to Jon Machota of The Athletic. 
While Elam never quite lived up to his first-round status with the Bills, he put forth fairly consistent performances each season. Though injuries have caused him to miss significant time (22 of a possible 51 games) in Buffalo, Dallas will be hoping he can come through during a time when injuries are hitting the team hard.
Last season, the Cowboys saw both Trevon Diggs and DaRon Bland miss significant amounts of time. Bland quickly got back up to speed and began to show signs of returning to the All-Pro greatness he displayed in 2023. Diggs, though, is working his way back from knee surgery, and while he is aiming for a return by the time the season opener rolls around, his timeline for return is certainly in question. Mix in the loss of Jourdan Lewis to Jacksonville in free agency after a strong year in the slot, and the team has several questions to answer at the cornerback position.
Part of the solution could be third-round draft pick Shavon Revel, who was receiving first-round buzz prior to suffering a torn ACL early into his final season at East Carolina. Revel should be ready to play by the time the regular season begins, but he’s not projected to return until sometime mid-training camp.
With things the way they are, Machota makes it clear: “Bland is one starter, Elam is another.” As we discussed at the end of May, Bland has been working more this offseason in the slot. He’s excelled both inside and outside during his short time in Dallas, which makes him extremely valuable to the team in this situation. In a contract year, Bland likely isn’t going to want to establish himself as a nickelback, considering the highest-paid nickelback in the NFL (Taron Johnson, $10.25MM per year) makes just over half the salary of the highest-paid outside cornerback (Denzel Ward, $20.1MM per year). He’ll need to hope, instead, that the Cowboys will reward him for his flexibility and versatility.
So, Bland and Elam are starting, then when an additional cornerback comes on, it could be Revel that comes in, shifting Bland inside. Or it could be Israel Mukuamu coming into the slot, keeping Bland out wide. Mukuamu has never really played significant snaps in any season, but last year, he saw more time at nickelback than he did at any other secondary position.
When Diggs comes back, things will be clearer. He and Bland will start together, and Bland can shift inside whenever Elam or Revel come in for sets that require more defensive backs. Until then, though, Elam is expected to play a major role in stabilizing the position group to open up the season.