The Dallas Cowboys have a tough $144 million decision to make. It should actually be pretty easy once you look closer.

That number is the combined value of the contracts Dallas gave tight end Jake Ferguson and cornerback DaRon Bland during the 2025 preseason. Ferguson signed a $52 million contract extension while Bland signed for $92 million.

Those deals arrived right after the Cowboys traded away Micah Parsons, almost as a justification for dealing one of the best defenders in the NFL. The message was clear: We’re doing something. We always had a plan. Never mind that Parsons was shipped out one week before the regular season.

Fast forward to today, and both Ferguson and Bland need to be demoted. Let’s break it down.

What does Jake Ferguson bring to the table?

Start with the offense. If you’re the Cowboys, you have to ask what Ferguson actually brings to the table.

He catches touchdowns in the red zone, I guess. But I’m not sure how much of that is a Ferguson stat and how much is a Dak Prescott stat. George Pickens and CeeDee Lamb command so much attention from opposing secondaries that I wouldn’t put too much weight on Ferguson’s production inside the 20-yard line.

Does that outweigh being a liability in the run game? Ferguson can’t block. He’s extremely inconsistent, lacks the physicality to take on edge rushers and linebackers, and lacks the power to generate movement. The most we’ve seen from him is getting in the way just enough for a running back to cruise into the end zone or past the first down marker. Against the Texans, I don’t think he could have been any worse as a run blocker.

He also has a fumble problem. Ferguson is one of the league leaders in fumbles since 2024, and when you look at that list, it’s all running backs and one tight end. The running backs make sense because of their touch volume. Ferguson doesn’t.

And now, it seems, there’s a hands problem too.

On Dallas’ final drive against the Buccaneers, with the offense moving downfield to tie the game, Prescott stepped up in the pocket and fired to Ferguson over the middle. Accurate pass, plenty of separation. The ball went through his hands, up in the air, and into the arms of the Tampa Bay defense. Game over.

It wasn’t even his first drop of the day. An earlier one forced Dallas to settle for three points instead of a touchdown that would have put them up 14-7. That mattered drastically later in the game.

He isn’t a yards-after-catch threat anymore, either. Back in 2023, Ferguson looked like something special. The Cowboys drafted Luke Schoonmaker in the second round that year because Ferguson was no sure thing, and then he broke out. Since then, he barely breaks tackles and rarely does anything with the ball in his hands.

Meanwhile, Brevyn Spann-Ford is making an impact in the run game. He has a lot to prove as a pass catcher, but I’m willing to find out if he can be better.

I didn’t love Jerry Jones going on the radio the day after the loss to paraphrase his way into defending Ferguson’s heart as a player. Honestly, nobody cares about the heart right now. Fans care about the problems he’s creating on the field.

DaRon Bland’s confidence issue

Flip it over to the defense, where Bland’s play has been even harder to watch.

We knew his 2023 season was lightning in a bottle. He was never going to keep up that pick-six pace, and he was never a shutdown corner (even then, he was one of the most targeted cornerbacks in the NFL). He was a high-risk, high-reward ball hawk who made up for the catches he allowed.

Right now, Bland is falling down twice in a game. He gave up a 64-yard catch to Tez Johnson, who didn’t even make a sharp break on his route. He simply rounded it off, and Bland went to the ground.

Then came third-and-21. Emeka Egbuka ran the most basic of routes to the sticks and turned around. Bland was there the whole time, kept backpedaling, and fell down. Egbuka met absolutely no resistance. Again, third-and-21. Easy conversion for the Bucs. 

Perhaps the most telling play was the near pick-six. Undrafted rookie QB Jalen Daniels handed him that opportunity on a golden platter, and Bland dropped it. The one thing we still hoped he could do, he couldn’t.

And yet, Dallas never seemed to question his spot this offseason. Back in January, the talk was about Bland shutting down one side of the field. Then the Cowboys added Cobie Durant, Caleb Downs, and most recently Joey Porter Jr. All along, Bland stayed a starter.

When healthy, I’d play Durant and Porter over him. But even if you don’t think anyone below him on the depth chart is better, bench him. He needs to be held accountable.

Brian Schottenheimer’s call-outs need consequences

Head coach Brian Schottenheimer can’t keep sitting at the podium promising the team will be better and get back to work if nothing changes.

He loves calling out players in press conferences, and I’m not against that. But who has he called out that actually saw consequences? He called out Terence Steele in training camp, and Steele has faced no real competition from Broderick Jones, who Dallas traded a third-round pick for. He has called out Bland, and I’m not sure we’ll see anyone else at cornerback when the Cowboys take on the Green Bay Packers. He called out Ferguson, and I doubt we’ll see less of him.

Unless your name is Jaydon Blue, it seems the coaching staff can call you out all they want without doing much about it.

If the Cowboys want to send a message to the locker room, benching the two players they signed for a combined $144 million is the best way to do it.