When the Dallas Cowboys selected Alabama cornerback Trevon Diggs in the middle of the second round, it felt like they had gotten an absolute steal. Those following the team’s draft buzz closely might remember
that Diggs’ name surfaced as a possible option in the first round, which didn’t please the likes of too many. That seemed a little too early, but fortunately, that wasn’t an issue because CeeDee Lamb fell to Dallas on Day 1. Their luck didn’t stop as Diggs made it all the way to pick 51, capping off one of the best round one/two starts to the draft in team history. Little did they know that a short time later, they would have two All-Pro players at two of the most important positions in the NFL.
Landing Diggs when they did was perfect timing, as the team just lost Byron Jones after he left in free agency for a nice payday in Miami. The rookie stepped in immediately as the Day 1 starter, logging 100% of the defensive snaps over his first three games. In Week 9 against the Pittsburgh Steelers, he fractured his foot and was thought to be lost for the year as the team put him on injured reserve. Surprisingly, he healed up quickly and was back in action to play the final three games of the season. Despite being a rookie and missing four games, he led the team with 14 passes defended. It was a promising start for the young corner.
Coming off a strong rookie campaign, there were big expectations for Diggs entering year two; however, none of us could have predicted what happened next. A uniform number switch from 27 to 7 was almost like changing into the superhero “Ball Hawkman,” as the player we witnessed was nothing short of spectacular. The Cowboys were winning games, starting the season 6-1, which in itself was exciting, but Diggs brought about additional excitement by intercepting a pass in each of the first six games of the season. Every new game, we wondered, would he get another one? And through the first six games, the answer was yes.
Diggs was everywhere. He was such an amazing ball tracker, following the ball into his arms like a seasoned pro wide receiver. Anything in his vicinity found his arms. When the season was done, Diggs had recorded an astonishing 11 interceptions, a feat that hadn’t happened in 40 years when another Dallas corner, Everson Walls, hauled in 11 picks his rookie season in 1981. In just his second season, the Cowboys had themselves an All-Pro corner. The sky was the limit.
Obviously, year three featured some regression to the mean, especially when it came to those monster interception numbers, but overall, Diggs played well. He was a bit of a risk/reward corner, as sometimes he made big plays, other times he gave up big plays. He still played well enough to be effective, earning Pro Bowl honors for the second-straight season, but he wasn’t without his critics. Pro Football Focus repeatedly scored him on the lower side, making his performance heavily debated amongst Cowboys Nation.
Entering the final season of his rookie deal, the Cowboys rewarded Diggs with a new five-year, $97 million deal, giving the team player control for six more years through the 2028 season. For those who believed Diggs was the real deal, it looked like pure brilliance from the front office, locking down one of the league’s top corners for several years. Through attrition, the Cowboys moved on from other corners like Chidobe Awuzie and Anthony Brown and reloaded with younger guys like Diggs and fifth-round gem DaRon Bland. The Cowboys traded for veteran Stephon Gilmore in 2023 to give the team one of the strongest core cornerback groups they’d had in a while. Sadly, the band didn’t play together very long as Diggs tore his ACL in practice early in the year, ending his season after just two games.
Diggs returned to begin the 2024 season, but we never saw the same player we saw before his knee injury. Things were different. Receivers were getting too much separation from him, and when he tried to close in, he was always late. Sometimes, the faster receivers darted across the field, just leaving him in the dust, making it nearly impossible to make the play. At times, he looked confused, and the days when Diggs was making big plays in the secondary had disappeared. In December, he was placed on injured reserve as it was discovered that his knee was still bothering him and it would again require surgery.
This season, he again was ready to go to begin the year, but again, he wasn’t the old Diggs. He struggled in coverage, as did the entire secondary of the Cowboys, as the new coaching staff struggled to get their guys to make stops. Diggs is a press corner and was asked to play zone, and struggled mightily. In October, Diggs was again placed on injured reserve for the third-straight season, this time due to a concussion from a TV installation mishap that happened in his home. And because of how poorly he was playing, nobody blinked an eye.
For the entire year, it’s felt like Diggs time in Dallas was nearing an end. He was docked half a million for not rehabbing at the Cowboys’ facility. He didn’t like that. They traded his BFF Micah Parsons. That couldn’t have made him feel good. And every time he was asked anything about his status, you could just sense the frustration growing between him and the Cowboys organization.
Finally, things came to a head. After the Christmas game, Diggs asked head coach Brian Schottenheimer if he could stay behind in Washington because that’s where his family was, rather than having to fly back to Dallas only to turn around and fly right back. Schottenheimer said no, but Diggs didn’t care. He never got on the plane. And on Tuesday, the Cowboys released him.
This was an expected result, and now we won’t have to speculate how the Cowboys will go about it. He had a base salary/roster bonus equating to $15.5 million, $20.5 million, and $21 million in each of the next three seasons, respectively. The Cowboys won’t be paying out any of that. And because they didn’t restructure any money from prior seasons, they’re only left with a $5.9 million dead money hit that makes up the remainder of his signing bonus money. The once five-year, $97 million deal became a two-year, $43 million deal. Unfortunately, the team got very little from him after signing him to a new contract, but at least they were able to cut ties with him without enduring a greater loss. Physically, he’s just not that guy anymore, and mentally, it feels like he checked out long ago. We wish him the best going forward, and we’ll always have 2021, but the days of making plays for the Cowboys are now officially gone. And as sad as it is to say, that may be a relief.
