{"id":52976,"date":"2025-06-03T01:09:09","date_gmt":"2025-06-03T01:09:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=52976"},"modified":"2025-06-03T01:09:09","modified_gmt":"2025-06-03T01:09:09","slug":"former-first-round-pick-called-breakout-candidate-for-cowboys","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=52976","title":{"rendered":"Former First Round Pick Called \u2018Breakout Candidate\u2019 for Cowboys"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"post-featured-container-id\">\n<div id=\"post-featured\" class=\"wp-caption \">\n<div class=\"h-responsive\">\n<figure class=\"h-responsive__inner\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"attachment-featured-image size-featured-image wp-post-image\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/GettyImages-1433931096-e1748885315949.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 820px) 95vw, 780px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/GettyImages-1433931096-e1748885315949.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780 780w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/GettyImages-1433931096-e1748885315949.jpg?quality=15&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1100 1100w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/GettyImages-1433931096-e1748885315949.jpg?quality=35&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1350 1350w\" alt=\"Kaiir Elam\" width=\"780\" height=\"439\" data-dom-ready-time=\"2059\" data-img-load-time=\"2720\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span class=\"caption-credit\">Getty<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"c-post-image-caption-text\">Buffalo Bills cornerback Kaiir Elam in 2024.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The\u00a0Dallas Cowboys\u00a0have long been a haven for former first round picks or disgruntled stars to attempt to revive their careers. If there\u2019s a team leading the league in \u201cTaking One Last Chance\u201d on\u00a0various dudes throughout the years, it\u2019s probably the Cowboys.<\/p>\n<p>The latest guy with a chance to turn things around in Dallas is cornerback\u00a0Kaiir Elam, a former first round pick\u00a0obtained via a trade\u00a0with the\u00a0Buffalo Bills\u00a0on March 12.<\/p>\n<p>Bleacher Report\u2019s Alex Ballentine thinks a vacuum at cornerback due to injuries could clear a path for Elam to become a \u201cBreakout Candidate\u201d for the Cowboys this summer.<\/p>\n<p>For Elam, it boil down to essentially being on a\u00a01-year, $2.5 million \u201cprove it\u201d contract\u00a0in 2025 after the Cowboys declined his $12.6 million fifth year option following the trade.<\/p>\n<p>Elam was the No. 23 overall pick by the Bills in the\u00a02022 NFL draft.<\/p>\n<div id=\"id\/article\/slide\/5199317\/element\/7\" class=\"MuiBox-root css-6emr8c\">\n<p class=\"MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-bp_small__body__article__medium css-1vqr2el\">\u201cKaiir Elam\u2019s time in Buffalo was disappointing,\u201d Ballentine wrote on June 2. \u201cThe 2022 first-round pick had opportunities to emerge with the Bills and wasn\u2019t able to take advantage of those opportunities. But sometimes a change of scenery can spark a career revival. Elam is going to have the opportunity to prove himself over the summer. Both\u00a0Trevon Diggs\u00a0and third-round pick\u00a0Shavon Revel Jr. are working their way back from ACL injuries and Elam is already making plays in OTAs.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While Elam has struggled during the regular season, he\u2019s seemed like an elite player in the in the postseason through his first 3 seasons. He has 2 interceptions in 5 career playoff games, including the game-winning pick against the\u00a0Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC Wild Card Round following the 2023 season.<\/p>\n<h2>Elam Second-Generation NFL Player<\/h2>\n<p>Elam was an All-SEC pick at Florida and ran a blazing, 4.39-second 40-yard dash at the NFL combine before the Bill selected him No. 23 overall in 2022 and signed him to a\u00a04-year, $13.69 million contract.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c(Elam) is patient and strong to mirror and impede releases but inconsistent staying connected to the early stages of the route,\u201d\u00a0NFL draft analyst Lance Zierlein\u00a0wrote in 2022. \u201d \u2026 He plays big at the catch point but smaller in run support. Elam has early CB3 and eventual CB2 value as a press and zone corner.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Elam\u2019s father, Abram, played 7 seasons as an NFL safety and his uncle, Matt Elam, was an All-American safety at Florida and a first-round pick (No. 32 overall) by the\u00a0Baltimore Ravens\u00a0in the 2013 NFL draft.<\/p>\n<h2>Injury Issues Have Dogged Elam Throughout Career<\/h2>\n<p>Despite only playing in 13 games and making 6 starts as a rookie in 2022, Elam still had 41 tackles, 4 pass deflections and 2 interceptions. He also had an interception against the\u00a0Miami Dolphins\u00a0in an AFC Wild Card win.<\/p>\n<p>In 2023, Elam only played in 3 games because of injury issues \u2014 meaning he\u2019s missed 17 regular-season games over his first 2 seasons. Still, he returned for the playoffs and had the clutch interception against the Steelers.<\/p>\n<p>Elam missed 4 games in 2024 but only made 3 starts in the 13 games he played in.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"css-1jxf684 r-bcqeeo r-1ttztb7 r-qvutc0 r-poiln3\">\u201cDepending on the health of the corners,\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"css-1jxf684 r-bcqeeo r-1ttztb7 r-qvutc0 r-poiln3 r-b88u0q\">Elam<\/span><span class=\"css-1jxf684 r-bcqeeo r-1ttztb7 r-qvutc0 r-poiln3\">\u00a0could see starting reps on the outside as early as Week 1,\u201d\u00a0Cowboys reporter Brandon Loree\u00a0wrote on his official X account on May 15. \u201cThey\u2019ll need the former first-round pick in a big way.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Getty Buffalo Bills cornerback Kaiir Elam in 2024. The\u00a0Dallas Cowboys\u00a0have long been a haven for former first round picks or disgruntled stars to attempt to revive their&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":52980,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-52976","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Former First Round Pick Called \u2018Breakout Candidate\u2019 for Cowboys - 24\/7 News America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=52976\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Former First Round Pick Called \u2018Breakout Candidate\u2019 for Cowboys - 24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Getty Buffalo Bills cornerback Kaiir Elam in 2024. 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