A slow start to the Cowboys' season would make Trevon Diggs a trade candidate, and there's already an NFC foe that makes sense

   

The relationship between Trevon Diggs and the Dallas Cowboys is one to monitor throughout the 2025 NFL season and one that could end in divorce soon. 

A slow start to the Cowboys' season would make Trevon Diggs a trade candidate, and there's already an NFC foe that makes sense

There are multiple reasons for this, including the team's decision to de-escalate Diggs' salary by $500,000 after the cornerback failed to participate in 84% of the team's offseason program. A clause in his contract required him to do so and in failure to reach that mark, the Cowboys had the right to enforce the de-escalator, though were not obligated to. 

Earlier this year, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones publicly criticized Diggs' rehab process from 2024. 

Shaving $500,000 off of a $9 million salary isn't about salary cap management but rather, as the Joker would say, about sending a message. And considering the Cowboys could save $12.5 million in 2026 cap space if they release Diggs, it's fair to assume they will look into it. And if they do. . . Why wouldn't trading Diggs be an option this very year?¨

Now granted, I don't think it would be wise to do so if the Cowboys reach the trade deadline with a winning record. However, if the season gets off to a slow start and for some reason the Cowboys are 4-5 or 3-6 (I'm not predicting them to be at that point but we have to consider the possibility), why not get something in return of a player they'd move on anyway later on. 

To be clear, this isn't meant to knock Diggs, who remains a starting-caliber cornerback with All-Pro experience and a standout in coverage. Instead, it's about a relationship growing tense that also has a big financial decision pending at the end of the season. 

And if the Cowboys were interested in making a trade happen, my colleague Wendell Ferreira, who covers the Green Bay Packers, believes the deal could interest Dallas' NFC foe. 

Packers could genuinely be interested in Trevon Diggs

Ferreira: The Green Bay Packers are walking on thin ice at the cornerback position. It seems like a switch in approach, going to a weak-link system philosophy. The starting trio has three solid starters with Keisean Nixon, Nate Hobbs, and Carrington Valentine, but nobody is close to the top of the positional rankings.

"We have three guys that combined started over 90 games in the National Football League, and we feel really good about those guys and the versatility that they bring," Gutekunst said in an interview with Cheesehead TV during the offseason. "All three guys are able to play inside and outside, so we are excited about that. There are not many teams in this league that probably have three guys that they feel really good about, and we do."

The problem is that they don't have high-end potential, and are an injury away from testing an unproved depth—Kamal Hadden, Kalen King, and seventh-round rookie Micah Robinson are the options. This is particularly concerning because Hobbs, their top free agent addition on defense this year, missed 16 combined games over the past three seasons.

Even though Trevon Diggs also brings an element of injury risk, and cornerback inherently is a volatile position, adding a player with a proven track record of top-level performance for a reasonable price tag would help the Packers minimize the risk of truly putting a weak link on the field.

 

Proposed trade: How much would Diggs net the Cowboys? 

After deliberation, here's the hypothetical trade Ferreira and I thought would be fair value for each side: 

  • Packers get: CB Trevon Diggs, 2027 sixth-round draft pick
  • Cowboys get: 2026 fourth-round draft pick