The Dallas Cowboys have lost cornerback Trevon Diggs for the rest of the 2024 regular season and it might take him a good chunk of 2025, if not all, to be back on the field.
According to Stephen Jones, it's a cartilage issue that could take up to eight months to recover from. That would put Diggs' timetable right around the middle of August of next year, which naturally raises questions regarding his level of play upon returning. It's the same injury in which he tore his ACL in 2023. It should be noted the Cowboys' timetables have been inaccurate with multiple players this year, including for starters such as CB DaRon Bland, DE DeMarcus Lawrence, among others.
What we do know is that Diggs' injury essentially shuts the door on the possibility to release him in 2025.
Although many would consider a release unlikely for Diggs anyway, the Cowboys might've legitimately looked at the possibility with the way they've been describing their salary cap situation as "really tight."
Keep in mind, a post-June 1st designation cut would've opened $10 million in cap space in 2025, per Over the Cap. That is no longer possible following his injury.
That's because Diggs' $9 million base salary for 2025 was guaranteed for injury and it was set to become a full guarantee if he was still on the roster by March 22nd. But now, he won't be able to pass a physical in March, that is now guaranteed, which closes the door on a release since it would virtually fail to open up cap space for the Cowboys. Additionally, they'd be forced to eat a good chunk of dead money in 2024.
This is the kind of scenario that leads NFL teams to bench big-name players with injury guarantees, like the New York Giants did with QB Daniel Jones and the Denver Broncos with Russell Wilson last year. Since the Cowboys didn't seem to be leaning toward parting ways with Diggs, benching him was probably never a consideration.
Diggs, who signed a $97 million contract in 2023, has now suffered back-to-back season-ending injuries. Now, his long-term future is a concern, starting with what his process to get back on the field will really look like ahead of the 2025 NFL season.
But don't expect the Cowboys to move on from Diggs' contract just yet. And hypothetically, if they did, it wouldn't save them much in terms of salary cap space.
