The Cowboys are declining the fifth-year option of cornerback Kaiir Elam, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN reports.

The team acquired Elam in a trade with the Bills this offseason. Buffalo will receive a 2025 fifth-round selection and a 2026 seventh-rounder, while sending a 2025 sixth-round choice to the Cowboys along with Elam.

So, the Cowboys’ decision was expected given the option would have paid him $12.7 million for 2026.

The Bills made Elam a first-round pick in 2022, and he played only 29 of a possible 51 regular-season games, starting only 12.

Elam was unable to beat out the competition in Buffalo, with Christian Benford, Rasul Douglas and Dane Jackson among those who saw more playing time. Elam totaled 81 tackles, six passes defensed and two interceptions with the Bills.

Cowboys outside cornerback Trevon Diggs will miss most if not all of the 2025 season after bone graft surgery on his left knee, and slot corner Jourdan Lewis left for the Jaguars. That gives Elam an opportunity to earn more playing time than he had in Buffalo when he was a healthy scratch for multiple games and played only 939 defensive snaps in his time there.