Kaiir Elam threw a few jabs at the Buffalo Bills in his introductory press conference with the Dallas Cowboys.
In a press conference with Dallas media, Elam told the media he was excited for a fresh start after the Bills put him in the back seat.
Coming to Buffalo, I was a kid that just wanted to improve and learn and really show off my talents. But I was always put in the back seat,” Elam told the Dallas media. “I continued to put my head down and work, continued to make plays throughout the season and in the playoffs and stuff like that. I just took everything I learned from there and all the baggage and improvements I felt like I needed to make and just packaged it up and worked on it every day. I don’t really see it as a negative. I really just see it as a growing opportunity for me to go shine somewhere else.”
Elam may have felt as though he was put in the back seat by the team, but the cornerback was not able to outperform his competition at cornerback during his tenure with the Bills.
Christian Benford, part of the same rookie class as Elam, outplayed the former first-round pick throughout training camp and the preseason in their rookie seasons. The gap between the two has only widened with each passing year. Benford has since established himself as one of the best young cornerbacks in the league. Elam also failed to beat out the likes of Rasul Douglas and Dane Jackson during his time with the Bills.
Despite being just 23 years old and having a lack of depth at cornerback, the Bills decided to recently cut their losses with the former first round pick. Buffalo acquired two draft picks — a 2025 fifth-round selection and a 2026 seventh-rounder — while sending a 2025 sixth-round choice to the Cowboys along with Elam.
The former first-round pick of the Bills seemed to hint that part of the reason his time in Buffalo didn’t work out was due to the coaching staff not believing in him. John Butler, a longtime defensive assistant, had great success developing multiple defensive backs in Buffalo, but he was unable to get Elam up to speed in Buffalo. After a mutual parting of ways, Jahmile Addae took over as cornerbacks coach last season. Addae spent much of the summer coaching up Elam at St. John Fisher University, but the cornerback still found himself in a reserve role with the Bills.
In Dallas, Elam believes he will get a “fair opportunity.”
“I’m confident because I’m coming into a staff that truly believes in me. I don’t think they would’ve made the move if they didn’t… I feel like everything starts with an opportunity, so if I’m able to come in here and compete and show what I can do, that’s all I really would want,” Elam said. “I don’t need a red carpet or anything like that. I just want to be able to earn it with a fair opportunity.”
Playing time in Dallas could be hard to come by for Elam. The team has Daron Bland starting at one outside cornerback spot. The other could be filled by Trevon Diggs depending on how quickly he recovers from surgery that he had on his left knee in January.