Cobie Durant signs one-year contract with Cowboys: How CB fits in Dallas
The Dallas Cowboys are continuing to reshape their secondary during 2026 NFL free agency.
The Cowboys have agreed to a one-year contract with cornerback Cobie Durant, the team announced March 13. The deal will be worth up to $5.5 million.
Durant spent the first four seasons of his career with the Los Angeles Rams after being selected in the fourth round of the 2022 NFL Draft. The South Carolina State product became a full-time starter in his third season and enjoyed his best season in 2025.
Durant posted 40 tackles, three interceptions and seven pass defenses across 17 games (15 starts) with the Rams last season. He graded as Pro Football Focus' 43rd cornerback among 112 qualifiers and allowed a respectable 85.6 passer rating.
Durant, 28, is the third addition the Cowboys have made to their secondary in free agency. They added former Arizona Cardinals safety Jalen Thompson to start for them while veteran safety P.J. Locke came over from the Denver Broncos to provide depth in the unit.
Here's more to know about Durant's fit with the Cowboys.
Cobie Durant contract detailsHere's are the full details of Durant's new contract with the Cowboys:
- Term:1 year
- Total contract value:$5.5 million
- Average annual value (AAV):$5.5 million
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Cobie Durant statsDurant has been consistently productive across his four NFL seasons to date. He has generated two seasons with three interceptions and has never logged fewer than five pass defenses in a season.
Below is a full look at Durant's stats across 61 career games and 39 starts.
- Tackles: 141
- TFL: 6
- Sacks: 2
- Interceptions: 7
- Pass defenses: 26
- Forced fumbles: 1
Two of Durant's seven career interceptions have been returned for touchdowns.
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How does Cobie Durant fit with the Cowboys?The Cowboys entered the 2026 NFL offseason needing to remake their entire defense. They allowed a league-high 30.1 points per game and ranked dead-last in defensive EPA per play in 2025, according to the NFL's Next Gen Stats.
Dallas' secondary was a big part of the problem, as the team surrendered a league-worst 251.5 passing yards per game last season. The Cowboys signed Thompson and Locke to help at the safety position, but they still needed to find a veteran option at cornerback.
The Cowboys were light on experience in the cornerback room entering the 2026 NFL offseason. They cut Trevon Diggs at the end of the 2025 campaign, leaving a trio of first- and second-year players - Shavon Revel, Reddy Steward and Trikweze Bridges - as the top options across from DaRon Bland.
As such, the Cowboys will value Durant's starting experience and could install him as the No. 2 cornerback across from Bland. His ability to hold onto that role may depend on the development of Revel - who was a third-round pick in 2025 - and any other corner Dallas brings in during the 2026 NFL Draft, but Durant gives the Cowboys a proven stopgap.
It's also worth noting that Durant played 82.4% of his snaps on the outside last season. His ability to operate in that capacity could allow the Cowboys to more frequently move Bland into the slot, where he thrived during the early stages of his career, in nickel packages.
And regardless of Durant's role, he will be an upgrade over Diggs, who allowed a woeful 157.2 passer rating across nine games last season. Durant is also much cheaper than his predecessor, making his one-year deal an ideal fit for a cap-strapped Cowboys team that had to restructure several contracts to create the space needed to sign free agents.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Cowboys sign veteran CB to one-year deal in free agency