Cowboys suffer a blow that’s the last thing they can afford with surprise injury

Few teams, if any, had a more frustrating offseason than the Dallas Cowboys. Not only did they fail to add much at all to a roster that got embarrassed in the NFC Wild Card Round, but they have yet to extend any of their stars seeking new deals.

Vibes in Dallas feel lower than they've been in a while entering a season, and things only appear to be getting worse. Star cornerback DaRon Bland reported foot soreness at the end of Wednesday's practice. That soreness turned out to be a stress fracture in his foot according to ESPN's Todd Archer.

The injury will knock Bland out for six to eight weeks and will require surgery. This is a crucial blow for a Cowboys team that could ill afford a hit of this magnitude.

Bad Cowboys offseason hits new low with DaRon Bland injury

The best-case scenario for Bland would be for him to return sometime in mid-October. The Cowboys having their bye week in Week 7 could help him return after just six games missed. Still, this is a big blow no matter how you slice it.

Bland broke out in a huge way in his second NFL season, leading the league with nine interceptions. He set a new NFL record by returning five of those interceptions for touchdowns. He's just 25 years old, and was able to put up those gaudy numbers mostly without fellow star corner Trevon Diggs who was limited to just two games in 2023.

Diggs is back, which should help a lot, but Bland proved to be a real difference-maker for the Cowboys last season. With Bland out for a while, there's a good chance that the Cowboys will turn to fifth-round pick Caelan Carson or new acquisition Andrew Booth in their starting lineup. Dallas went from having arguably the best cornerback duo in the league to again having one star on one side and something to be desired on the other.

Of course, this injury came just six days after former Cowboy Stefon Gilmore inked a deal with the Minnesota Vikings. Boy, it would have been nice for Dallas to have brought him back in general, but especially after this update.

"The good news is he'll be here for let's say the vital games of the year," owner and general manager Jerry Jones said of Bland on the 105.3 The Fan in Dallas pregame show. That is probably the only bright side of this situation.

Replacing a player of Bland's caliber is not possible, especially with Week 1 rapidly approaching. All the Cowboys can do now is hope that they have enough depth in the secondary to survive.