When it comes to hitting rock bottom for the bruised and battered Cowboys, it seems there is always another level down that can be reached. And on Saturday, with Dallas sitting at 5-8 and heading into Carolina for Week 15, the team went down yet one more notch.
This time, it’s star corner Trevon Diggs, the team’s $97 million anchor in the defensive backfield. Diggs was the team’s second-round pick in 2020 and has earned two Pro Bowl spots, making him a no-brainer for the team to sign to a five-year megadeal back in the summer of 2023.
Problem is, Diggs has not been healthy since. He played only two games before tearing his ACL in 2023, and has missed two of the past three weeks with another knee injury. Now, according to Jay Glazer of Fox Sports, Diggs will be out for the rest of the year as he gets season-ending surgery again.
Wrote Glazer on Twitter/X: “The hits keep coming for the @dallascowboys. In a year where they have been decimated by injuries another star is done for the year, Pro Bowl CB Trevon Diggs is not only out tomorrow he is also now set to have season-ending knee surgery. Unreal horrible luck for the Cowboys on the injury front.”
Cowboys Could Look to Save Money
Things had not been trending well for Diggs despite a solid game on Monday night against the Bengals. Diggs was limited in Wednesday and Thursday’s practice ahead of Week 15, but the Cowboys held him out on Friday and subsequently announced they would not bring him to Carolina.
Then came Glazer’s bombshell, which could have bigger implications, because the Cowboys will need to think twice about what to do with Diggs in the future. He has been a star when he is healthy, but in the past two seasons, he will have played 13 games.
According to Spotrac, the Cowboys have an out clause on Diggs, after this season, which will cap his deal at $33 million and leave a dead-cap hit of $12.75 million. If the Cowboys cut him, once the dead cap clears, the savings after that would be $14.25 million in 2025, $19.75 million in 2026, followed by $24.75 million and $20 million in the years after that.
Trevon Diggs Injury Is Bad Timing for Him
It would be a tough move on the part of the Cowboys, considering that Diggs is just three years removed from leading the NFL with 11 interceptions. But there is no question that Diggs was not the same player coming back from his knee injury this year. With Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb getting big new contracts, and Micah Parsons up next, the Cowboys may need to cut some corners.
At Pro Football Focus, Diggs had a grade of 56.6, which was 87th out of 118 corners, his lowest grade of his career.
Last year, when Diggs originally was injured, coach Mike McCarthy’s reaction said it all. “Obviously you feel sick [for] him,” McCarthy said at the time. “It’s definitely a punch to the gut for our football team, but this is an opportunity for our defensive depth to stand up and continue to move forward.”
But this year, given the number of injuries the Cowboys have had, Diggs is simply one of many. And there’s reason to wonder whether, when he does come back from the injury, he does so in Dallas.
