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Todd ArcherAug 31, 2025, 01:41 PM ET<\/p>\n
Close<\/a>Todd Archer is an NFL reporter at ESPN and covers the Dallas Cowboys. Archer has covered the NFL since 1997 and Dallas since 2003. He joined ESPN in 2010.<\/p>\n FRISCO, Texas — Two days after dealing Pro Bowl edge rusher Micah Parsons<\/a> to the Green Bay Packers<\/a>, the Dallas Cowboys<\/a> have agreed to a four-year extension worth $92 million with Pro Bowl cornerback DaRon Bland<\/a>, according to multiple sources.<\/p>\n The deal includes $50 million in guaranteed money, including a $22 million signing bonus.<\/p>\n The Cowboys announced Bland’s extension but did not disclose financial terms.<\/p>\n Pick-Six King \u270d\ufe0f <\/p>\n We have extended DaRon Bland through the 2029 season<\/p>\n \ud83d\uddde\ufe0f: https:\/\/t.co\/gmCZwj6wbO<\/a> | @blockchain<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/mDMayrDSLu<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Dallas Cowboys (@dallascowboys) August 31, 2025<\/a> <\/p>\n Bland, 26, set an NFL record in 2023 when he returned five of his league-best nine interceptions for touchdowns. He was limited to seven games last year because of a stress reaction in his left foot that required surgery, and he did not have an interception.<\/p>\n “He does have incredible ball skills, but I also think he’s got incredible instincts,” coach Brian Schottenheimer said Sunday. “His ability to study the game and his knowledge of the game for a young player, relatively young, are uncanny. Like his ability to read splits and anticipate routes and things like that, I always think of Stephon Gilmore<\/a>. … Those guys as they get older, and they maybe lose a little bit of a step or something so they have to learn how to read splits and things like that, but DaRon’s just always had the ability to process things very quickly.<\/p>\n Editor’s Picks<\/p>\n 2 Related<\/p>\n “Then he’s certainly got elite change of direction and ball skills, which is why the interceptions and the pick-sixes, per se, have happened. Another guy [that] fits perfectly in our defense. … Key, key piece for the Dallas Cowboys.”<\/p>\n A fifth-round pick in 2022 out of Fresno State, Bland led the Cowboys in interceptions as a rookie with five.<\/p>\n The Cowboys had negotiations with Bland’s agent during training camp, so this agreement had little to do with the Parsons’ trade.<\/p>\n He was set to be a free agent after the season. He is the second player the Cowboys have extended from their 2022 draft class this offseason with tight end Jake Ferguson<\/a> signing a four-year $52 million deal that included $30 million in guarantees in July.<\/p>\n “We’re a draft and develop team,” Schottenheimer said. “We want to draft guys. We want to develop them. We’ve shown that we have a great history here, long before I got here, of drafting players and developing them. And I think the cool thing when you look at the guys that you do that with is, usually they don’t change. Fergy has not changed a bit. He’s still the enforcer that he likes to be and half bit crazy all the time which is awesome. I love being around him, and DaRon’s not going to change.”<\/p>\n The club has also had talks with Pro Bowl left guard Tyler Smith<\/a>, but he is under contract through 2026 with the Cowboys picking up the 2022 first-rounder’s fifth-year option in the spring.<\/p>\n “Hopefully,” Schottenheimer said, “[Smith] is next.”<\/p>\n