The Dallas Cowboys have a lot of star power on both sides of the football, but their biggest bargain may be All-Pro cornerback Daron Brand.
Bleacher Report's Brad Gagnon named Brand the lowest-paid player on the entire NFL roster and named Brand the lowest-paid player on the Cowboys' roster.
“Kudos to CeeDee Lamb and Micah Parsons for being underpaid,” Gagnon wrote. “Neither had a chance to match a player who intercepted nine first-team passes and made less than $1 million in his second All-Pro season.”
In a secondary that also featured Stephon Gilmore, Brand was a nightmare for opposing quarterbacks and wide receivers during his record-setting 2023 season.
Can Daron Brand overcome his historic season?
Brand is two years away from being selected by the Cowboys in the fifth round of the 2022 draft, making him a first-team All-Pro for the first time in his career.
One of the diamonds in the rough the Cowboys have unearthed in recent drafts, Brand currently holds the record for most interceptions returned for touchdowns in a single season (5).
According to Pro Football Focus, Brand held his passer rating to just 50.9 when targeting opposing quarterbacks, highlighting his dominance in coverage.
Brand had a career-high 69 tackles, nine pass interceptions and 15 breakups, earning him an Elite overall grade of 90.4 from PFF.
Through his first two NFL seasons, Brand has picked off 14 passes, recorded 123 total tackles, broken up 22 passes, and had 2.5 tackles for loss so far in his career. Did.
Brand, who is in the third year of his rookie contract, is scheduled to earn a base salary of just $985,000 in 2024, but he counts $1.06 million against Dallas' cap hit in 2024.
How much does it cost the Cowboys to re-sign CeeDee Lamb?
At the other end of the spectrum of bland values is CeeDee Lamb.
One of the NFL's most prolific wide receivers and has emerged as the Cowboys' most dangerous weapon in the passing game, Lamb finished with a career-high 1,749 yards and 12 touchdowns in 2023, finishing in both major categories. is about to set a new career high.
Lamb will pick up his fifth-year option in 2024 while collecting $17.99 million next season. But the Cowboys will need to sign the 25-year-old rising star to a contract extension in the coming months to lower his cap number and ensure he has a star on the side of his helmet for the foreseeable future.
“I can't give you numbers right now,” Lamb said on teammate Micah Parsons' podcast leading up to the Super Bowl. “But I will say this…I certainly want to be one of the highest-paid wide receivers (if not the highest-paid receiver).” That's always the goal. ”
If Lamb is intended to be one of the highest-paid receivers, the Cowboys could cost more than $28.63 million against the cap, which is more than San Francisco 49ers receiver Deebo. -Equivalent to Samuel's annual cap hit as the league's third-highest receiver. To reset the receiver market, the Cowboys would need to exceed Tyreek Hill's cap number of $31.3 in terms of commitment to Lamb.
Lamb was selected by the Cowboys with the 17th overall pick in the 2020 draft, catching 395 passes for 5,145 yards and 32 touchdowns in his first four seasons.
