Dallas Cowboys pull the trigger on controversial trade but there's a very good reason to believe they will make it work
The Dallas Cowboys had publicly discussed improving the team via the trade market and now it's happening: They're trading for Buffalo Bills cornerback Kaiir Elam, CBS' Josina Anderson reported on Wednesday. The Cowboys are sending a fifth and seventh rounder to Buffalo while getting a sixth-rounder in return in addition to Elam. Elam, a former first-round pick […]
The Dallas Cowboys had publicly discussed improving the team via the trade market and now it's happening: They're trading for Buffalo Bills cornerback Kaiir Elam, CBS' Josina Anderson reported on Wednesday.
The Cowboys are sending a fifth and seventh rounder to Buffalo while getting a sixth-rounder in return in addition to Elam.
Elam, a former first-round pick who has struggled in his transition to the NFL, will get a chance at a fresh start in a defense that suits him well while the Cowboys get desperate help at cornerback, a position in which they quite literally are missing bodies.
Elam failed to secure a starting job with the Bills, starting 12 out of 29 games played in his first three years in the league. Even as a first-rounder, he never beat the likes of Christian Benford, Tre White, and Dane Jackson on the depth chart during his first two years in the league. Elam missed the majority of the 2023 NFL season as a result of an ankle injury and really of his level of play.
"Mentally, I feel like it kind of ate at me," Elam said last offseason about his early struggles. "Well, not kind of, it did eat at me. I learned to appreciate the struggles cause it helped me become into who I am now. It's not like I was cutting corners. It's not like I wasn't listening or wasn't taking notes, wasn't preparing the right way. It just, I felt like it allowed me to learn though, like that's just the reality of it, and sometimes you can't really force success."
There is good reason to believe the Cowboys can make the most out of Kaiir Elam
Kaiir Elam was a first round pick for the Bills, but it was clear early on the team was trying to use a Ferrari like a daily driver. Best in press-man coverage where his speed and physicality shine, the Bills deployed a lot of zone coverage, back to the sideline scheme, asking him to rally and play in support.
But with the Cowboys and new DC Matt Eberflus, he plays a much more aggressive brand of ball. Gone will be primarily playing Nickel on base downs and two high safety schemes. Elam has a chance to be aggressive, use his traits and attack the football the way he did while at Florida. Trading such little capital for a player that many teams loved in the draft and is only 23 years old, has low-risk, high-reward written all over it for Dallas.