FRISCO, Texas – A shame the nickel is only worth 5 cents.
To the Cowboys, they learned last season for sure this football nickel is priceless, that being the nickel back.
And oh, we're not talking the Canadian alternative rock band, earning its unique name thanks to band member Mike Kroeger, the one-time Starbucks employee who became worn out by asking customers, "You want your nickel back?"
Clever.
But in the history of the NFL, the nickel refers to a changeup defense to combat offenses lining up with more than two wide receivers, or facing an offense with one of those tight end pass-receiving threats. The scheme employs five defensive backs, thus the five-center, a credit to the 1960 Eagles utilizing it to combat the Green Bay Packers' multiple-receiver offense, helping Philadelphia to win that season's NFL Championship, 17-13.
Understood the nickel defense necessity way back when, but learned the high value of finding one of those nickel back players when former Cowboys cornerback Everson Walls signed on with the New York Giants in 1990. Head coach Bill Parcells and defensive coordinator Bill Belichick successfully moved "Cubby" into the slot to combat Buffalo's K-Gun base offense run by quarterback Jim Kelly with at least three wide receivers. Held the Bills to but 19 points to win Super Bowl XXV, the Giants scoring just 20.
This appreciation for such a specialized player became reinforced in 1993 when Cowboys head coach Jimmy Johnson and defensive coordinator Butch Davis moved second-year starting safety Darren Woodson into the slot to not only cover some of the NFL's top wide receivers (i.e. Jerry Rice) but also support the run if offenses chose to do so even with three receivers on the field. Woody's unique ability throughout his 12-year NFL career should already have earned him Pro Football Hall of Fame recognition over his 18 years of eligibility and counting by now.
And if the Cowboys needed a punch in the solar plexus reminder of the position's importance, consider delivered during the 2025 season when they were devoid of cornerback/safety experience to man that position. That was one of many reasons why the defense giving up the most points in franchise history (511) finished with the NFL's 32nd pass defense, and gave up the second most passing yards in franchise history (4,276 yards), too.
For sure catching the attention of owner, president and GM Jerry Jones, who expressed regret earlier this offseason by saying, "We let our nickel get out of here last year; have a little more appreciation for where we aren't at nickel. He wouldn't get out this year."
"Our nickel" refers to the Cowboys' eight-year veteran nickel back Jourdan Lewis, proving worth every penny he had earned over the years. He left in free agency after signing on with Jacksonville for three years, $30 million, with $20 million guaranteed, his $12.5 million base salary four times the one-year, $2.8 million base he played for in 2024 with the Cowboys.
All this why nickel slot corner has become a priority this offseason, and made me laugh the other day when someone asked why the Cowboys signed yet another free agent cornerback, Derion Kendrick, a four-year NFL veteran, the fourth this offseason. Now gives them the rights to nine cornerbacks on the 90-man roster, not to mention having signed two versatile safeties with slot-corner capability.
And we're only three weeks into free agency, plus there is a prime possibility of selecting another defensive back or two in three weeks during the NFL Draft commencing on April 23. In fact, and hey, say what you want, but these Cowboys are no April Fools, they would not hesitate to draft a cornerback with one of their two first round choices if the draft lands their way.
The nickel is that important.
"It's important in any defense," even the offensive-minded head coach Brian Schottenheimer knows for sure. "You're closer to the ball. There's different ways you can build it. You have to … again, this isn't the first time I've heard it. I think Christian (Parker, new defensive coordinator) was the one that said it (about the nickel back). You have to be able to cover like a corner, you have to be able to blitz like a safety, and you have to be able to fit the run like a linebacker. I mean, those are three really difficult things to do at the highest level.
"And so I think that's what everyone's chasing. I think that's why you saw a great player like (Jourdan Lewis) go and command the money that he commanded last year, a really good football player."
Having said all that, this is why the Cowboys have signed a veteran cornerback like Cobie Durant, capable of playing outside or in the slot. This is why the Cowboys have signed versatile veterans like Jalen Thompson and P.J. Locke, safeties capable of playing deep or on the line in the nickel. Same with why they signed Kendrick.
Said Locke of his versatility, "I think it's super important because since the game of football nowadays you got to play in space. Safeties have to be able to cover. You got to be able to tackle in the pen field. Depending on scheme, you got to be able to blitz, hit the run. So all those things are important in the game of football. … I mean, I think versatility is super, super important."
All this knowing they have those nine cornerbacks on the roster, accounting for the likes of DaRon Bland, Caelen Carson, Shavon Revel, Reddy Steward, Josh Butler, Corey Ballentine and Trikweze Bridges. But here is the deal. Only three of these guys have more than 11 NFL starts of experience, Bland leading the way with 42, Durant next with 39 – 29 of those the past two years with the Rams – and Kendrick with 18, but none since 2023.
Plus, the Cowboys would like to keep Bland capable of playing inside or out, and probably consider Revel as an outside corner, too. But let's remember Revel missed most of the 2025 season still rehabbing from his torn ACL after three games played in his final year at East Carolina. And Bland was limited to just 12 games last season, dealing with the recurring foot injury that needed end-of-season surgery again to replace the broken screw inserted the previous year to help expedite the growth of his fractured fifth metatarsal.
And remember when talking cornerbacks, Jones previously has said he's grown weary of corners dealing with "feet."
The Cowboys leaned heavily on Steward last year as their nickel back. But always remember, Steward was a first-year player, the 17 games he played in 2025, five of those starts, were 16 more than what he had previously played in 2024 with the Bears. Then there is Carson, limited to just five games his rookie season in 2024 with a shoulder injury in need of postseason surgery, and then suffering a hyperextended knee in training camp last year, which landed him on injured reserve to start the season.
As for Butler, he spent the majority of his second NFL campaign with the Cowboys in 2025 recovering from the torn ACL suffered in Week 13 of the 2024 season. And Ballentine has kicked around with 10 NFL teams since 2019, the majority of those years on practice squads. The corner played in just six games last year, having earned only one of his 11 NFL starts over the last three seasons.
And then there is Bridges, a seventh-round draft choice of the Los Angeles Chargers in 2025 whom the Cowboys claimed off waivers. And though he appeared in 16 games his rookie season, he mostly served as a backup corner, earning one start and playing 136 special teams snaps.
So now you know why Dallas had this cornerback need. Why, the Cowboys are looking for nickel back candidates with experience to fill last year's void after J-Lou's free agency departure.
And then there is this: The Cowboys finished the 2025 season with just six interceptions, tying their 2016 single-season franchise low. Safety Donovan Wilson led the team with but two, matching the fewest for a club leader in franchise history, and the seven-year veteran is still an unsigned unrestricted free agent.
These lack of takeaways also has become a priority to correct in 2026.
"We got to be better taking care of the football, and we got to take it away more because, again, minus-9," Schottenheimer said of the team's woeful turnover differential. "Like I say –and really, I have a hard time saying it, I really do – but minus-9, you're never going to qualify for the playoffs doing that."
Durant just might be the guy the Cowboys need for this correction, having grabbed not only three interceptions for the Rams this past regular season but three more in the playoffs, too.
"See ball, get ball," Durant said of his coverage philosophy. "There is nothing like getting the ball back to the offense. … Just get the ball back to Dak Prescott is my new motive, man."
This all takes us back to where we started. Can't have enough cornerbacks. Can't have enough guys capable of playing the slot in the nickel defense, either a corner or a versatile safety.
As Parker reinforced this profile, "He's usually a guy who, if you were playing football on a Saturday afternoon, the neighborhood, he's your first-round draft pick. Just because he feels the game naturally. That's definitely an important guy to a good defense."
Yep, nickel back for sure, and his worth has nothing to do with 5 cents.
