The Buffalo Bills cut ties with former first-round pick Kaiir Elam this offseason, shipping him to the Dallas Cowboys in a trade.
It turns out the change of scenery has done wonders for the cornerback, who is putting the struggles of his days in Buffalo behind him and is now in line for a starting job.
Kaiir Elam Back in Starting Role
The Bills drafted Elam in 2022 with the hopes he could fill the void created by an injury to Tre’Davious White, and Elam did at first. After the Bills jumped up the board in the first round to snag him, Elam began the season as a starter but eventually lost his job to fellow rookie Christian Benford.
Elam continued to struggle, falling down the depth chart in Buffalo until he was traded in March.
He has fared much better in Dallas, with reporter Joseph Hoyt of the Dallas Morning News calling Elam one of the biggest surprises of training camp.
“In Dallas, itâs been completely different for Elam. Heâs had opportunities. Heâs made the most of them. Heâs been confident, sparked by consistent play since he arrived,” Hoyt wrote. “Heâs been the one immovable object in the Cowboysâ rotating secondary this offseason. He was fantastic in minicamp and OTAs and he carried that over to camp.
“Elam looks like a surefire starter for the Cowboys. Heâs standing out on a regular basis. If he can do this in the regular season, it could be one of the better trades the Cowboys have made in recent memory.”
Bills Have Their Own Competition in the Secondary
While Benford has held onto the starting job that he earned in his rookie season, there is some competition for the spot opposite him in the secondary. The Bills used a first-round draft pick — their first on a cornerback since Elam — to take Kentucky’s Maxwell Hairston.
Hairston appeared in line to earn a starting job before suffering a leg injury at training camp that the team classified as week-to-week. White, who returned to the team after spending the 2024 season with the Los Angeles Rams and Baltimore Ravens, now appears to be the frontrunner for the job.
But White struggled a bit in the team’s preseason opener against the New York Giants, leading The Athletic’s Joe Buscaglia to suggest that there could be more competition for the starting job.
“White played every snap of the first two series, but it was a bit of a miss,” Buscaglia wrote. “The Giants targeted him on underneath throws, with receivers getting separation. After a catch was made in front of White, the cornerback had some difficulty bringing down the ball carrier to minimize the gain. Tackling has never been Whiteâs strong suit, but it was less of an issue earlier in his career when his coverage skills were at their best. Itâs only one game, and White has had a strong training camp. Itâs something to monitor over the next few weeks ahead of the regular season to see if it becomes a trend.”
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