By Joe Buscaglia, Jon Machota, Saad Yousuf and Chris Licata
The Buffalo Bills have traded cornerback Kaiir Elam and a 2025 sixth-round draft pick (No. 204) to the Dallas Cowboys in exchange for a 2025 fifth rounder (No. 170) and a 2026 seventh rounder, the team announced Wednesday.
Elam, 23, is entering his fourth NFL season after Buffalo traded up two spots to select him with the No. 23 pick in 2022. He was the fifth defensive back off the board behind Derek Stingley Jr. (Houston Texans), Sauce Gardner (New York Jets), Kyle Hamilton (Baltimore Ravens) and Trent McDuffie (Kansas City Chiefs).
A former Florida Gators standout, Elam started 13 of his 34 games played in Buffalo, including one playoff start in 2022. His best statistical season came as a rookie when he posted 41 tackles, four pass breakups and two interceptions — the only two of his NFL career to date — across 13 games.
Elam carries a $2.57 million salary cap hit in 2025 plus a fifth-year club option for 2026, per Over The Cap.
Cowboys take flier on young, much-needed depth piece
Elam is the latest reclamation project cornerback the Cowboys have traded for. In 2023, they traded for Noah Igbinoghene, who was a first round pick in 2020 by the Miami Dolphins, and then last offseason, they traded for Andrew Booth, who was the Minnesota Vikings’ draft pick in 2022 in the top of the second round.
Neither of those trades really worked out in providing upgrades for the Cowboys on defense, so they’re hoping that the move for Elam yields different results.
Although Elam hasn’t lived up to his draft slot in Buffalo, he’s still two months away from his 24th birthday, so he’s still quite young. After losing Jourdan Lewis to the Jacksonville Jaguars, Trevon Diggs’ injury situation and the lack of standouts from last year’s crop of replacement options, the Cowboys simply need warm bodies at this point. Elam gives them somebody they can at least throw into the mix immediately. — Saad Yousuf, Cowboys staff writer
Bills add draft capital as Elam gets fresh start
After failing to come through atop a summer starting competition in consecutive seasons to begin his career, and then being a healthy scratch more often than not in his third season, the writing was as clear as day on Elam’s future in Buffalo. The 2022 first-round pick, a player the Bills traded up to select, just never looked comfortable in the team’s zone-based defensive scheme.
He was outplayed early in his career by 2022 fifth-round pick Christian Benford, and Benford has since charged forward as the team’s clear top cornerback and is knocking on the door as one of the best at his position in the NFL. The Bills did go to Elam in the starting lineup when there was an injury to one of Benford or starter Rasul Douglas, but he mostly turned into a target for opposing offenses. When Benford suffered a concussion early against the Chiefs in the 2024 AFC Championship Game, Elam had a day to forget as the Bills switched to primarily man coverage, which, on paper, suits Elam’s skill set a bit better.
For Elam, he gets a change of scenery and a new defensive scheme, which he sorely needed. Even though Douglas is a free agent, the Bills were unlikely to have Elam be a starter in 2025. For the Bills, they leveled up on a draft choice and now have three picks in the fifth round this year, which will likely aid them in their trade-up opportunities, along with a future seventh-round pick. They also cleared a little over $2.5 million on the 2025 salary cap to do so, which was as big of a win as the draft compensation acquired. — Joe Buscaglia, Bills staff writer
Cornerback still a priority for Dallas in April’s draft
Elam didn’t live up to expectations in Buffalo but he has good size and the Cowboys didn’t give up all that much in the process. The fourth-year corner was drafted one pick before Dallas selected standout offensive guard Tyler Smith in 2022. Interestingly, Elam’s father, Abram Elam, also played for the Cowboys in 2006 and 2011.
The Cowboys were desperately in need of cornerback help with Lewis leaving in free agency and Diggs dealing with a significant knee injury. Now, despite adding Elam, Dallas will still need to address cornerback in April’s NFL Draft, and currently have 10 total picks at their disposal to possibly aid those efforts. — Jon Machota, Cowboys staff writer
Required reading
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