The Cowboys are officially declining the fifth-year option on cornerback Kaiir Elam.
Very early in the offseason roster construction process the Dallas Cowboys made it a point to solidify their roster with veteran trade acquisitions. All told the team made three of them prior to the NFL Draft.
One of the trades that Dallas executed involved the acquisition of cornerback Kaiir Elam thanks to the Buffalo Bills. All it took for Dallas to land Elam was a compensatory pick on Day 3 and given his high pedigree it stands to reason that he was worth a flyer, particularly at a position of need. Coincidentally the pick in question became another cornerback as Buffalo selected Ohio State’s Jordan Hancock at 170 overall.
The pedigree in which Elam came from himself was the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft. The Bills took Elam then at number 23 overall, just one spot before Dallas took Tyler Smith, which means that he has completed three years of service in the NFL.
As this is the case for the former first-rounder the Cowboys had to decide this offseason if they wanted to pick up Elam’s fifth-year option, something they already did for Tyler Smith. Given that they have never seen him even play for them it always made sense that they were unlikely to do so and now that news is official.
The #Cowboys are not picking up the fifth-year option of corner Kaiir Elam, acquired in a trade with Buffalo this offseason. This was largely expected, as the option would have paid him around $12.7M for 2026.
— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) May 1, 2025
With Elam’s option being declined it means that he is set to enter the final year of his contract with the Cowboys. Obviously the team could broker an extension at any point, although doing so early in the process is not exactly their style, but it seems logical to expect them to want to see what he has to offer.
The future of the cornerback position is in a state of flux at the moment with DaRon Bland also currently set to enter the final year of his contract and questions surrounding Trevon Diggs. For what it’s worth the group did pick up a third-round pick in Shavon Revel Jr. who may answer some long-term questions down the road. It isn’t an exaggeration to say that what the position as a whole looks like a year from now could surprise us all.
