The Cowboys made a trade for cornerback Kaiir Elam last March, but they’re moving on eight months later. The team announced that it has waived Elam. He’ll be free to sign anywhere if he goes unclaimed. If a team does claim Elam, it would take on the fully guaranteed $1MM left on his contract.
Elam isn’t far removed from going in the first round of the 2022 draft. The Bills traded up two spots to take Elam 23rd overall after a successful three-year run at Florida. It proved to be an ill-advised decision for Buffalo, though the team did find its No. 1 corner much later in the draft when it chose Christian Benford in the sixth round.
Elam wound up starting in 12 of 29 appearances with the Bills and totaling two interceptions. Both picks came during his rookie season. An ankle injury helped limit Elam to three games in his second year. He returned to play in 13 games in 2024, mostly working as a reserve. In his final game with the Bills, an AFC championship game loss to the Chiefs last January, Elam struggled filling in for Benford after the latter left early with a concussion.
The Bills cut the cord on Elam two months after the Chiefs knocked them out. They sent Elam and a 2025 sixth-round choice to the Cowboys for a 2025 fifth-rounder and a 2026 seventh-rounder. While Dallas believed enough in Elam to take a cheap flier on him, it unsurprisingly declined his fifth-year option (worth around $12.68MM) not long after acquiring him.
Elam ended up starting in seven of 10 games with the Cowboys, who own the NFL’s 30th-ranked pass defense. The 24-year-old contributed to their woes, allowing 25 completions, 372 yards, and three touchdowns before the Cowboys cut him. Opposing quarterbacks have managed a 105.0 passer rating when throwing Elam’s way this season. Pro Football Focus rates his performance 61st among 108 cornerbacks.
With rookie corner Shavon Revel debuting in Week 11 after missing the Cowboys’ first nine games, Elam didn’t play a snap in their win over the Raiders on Monday. Defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus left Elam on the bench in favor of Revel, Caelen Carson, DaRon Bland, and Reddy Steward. Trevon Diggs could rejoin that group in the coming weeks if he returns from a concussion that forced him to IR on Oct. 25.
With Elam no longer occupying a spot, the Cowboys signed running back Malik Davis from their practice squad to their active roster on Saturday. Davis has recorded seven carries for 26 yards in four games this season. Most of his work (67 of 90 snaps) has come on special teams.