How a Former Rams CB Can Help the Cowboys in 2026
28-year-old former Los Angeles Rams cornerback Cobie Durant has agreed to a one-year contract with the Dallas Cowboys team for just under six million dollars on Friday, March 14th. He played in 61 total games for the Rams, and all 17 last season. Durant has recorded seven interceptions, 151 returned yards, 141 tackles, 26 pass breakups, and two touchdowns over the course of his career. With the game he has played and credentials like this from his career, the 28-year-old is a good choice for the Cowboys to bring on. While he is not explicitly specialized in stopping the run per se, as his experience is with cornerback, Dallas has gotten other people who are more in line with the type of defense the team desperately needs to improve on, such as the pair of safeties they signed in Jalen Thompson and P.J. Locke.
Additionally, Durant is another player who can help them plug one of the holes in their defense. By spending less than two percent of their total salary cap to nab him, he is a very economical choice on the Cowboys’ part. With 85.45% of their allocated seasonal funds having already been spent on other players, Dallas is in the upper echelons of their budget and is getting dangerously close to maxing out their spending cap. Owner and general manager Jerry Jones has previously expressed concerns that the budget may need to be boosted in some capacity if they want to achieve the short-term goal of stopping the run while keeping the current team well-stocked.
If Jones can keep making smart and less expensive choices similar to Durant’s one-year contract, it is very possible he could just manage to fit within that 14.55% of remaining funds without a need to make too severe long-term sacrifices. It is worth noting that the Cowboys have hired over five free-agent players in the offseason as part of their push to have an aggressive stance in more free-agent contracts. Some of the players that were brought in include 26-year-old linebacker Sam Williams, 26-year-old defensive edge Tyrus Wheat, and the 27-year-old free safety in Thompson. These new members exemplify the Cowboys' goals and show a very bold strategy, filling each of the team’s required positions.
Given the Damocles of their salary cap, they have to be mindful of blowing it all on high-cost players. However, Durant has given them some more breathing room as his contract is much cheaper than ultra-high prices like Dak Prescott’s 43-million-dollar deal. Jones has made a smart choice. Yet, he is still left with less than 15% of his funds, so he can’t go hog wild.
