Trevon Diggs is in Dallas Cowboys’ proverbial doghouse. Is writing on the wall?
The Dallas Cowboys arrived for training camp on Sunday and will take the field for the first of 16 open practices in Southern California on Tuesday.
One of three players that will not be on the field is cornerback Trevon Diggs, who missed six of the last seven games last season after needing a major knee procedure to solve a bone graft issue. The recovery timeline was expected to last well into training camp, and that remains the expectation as camp arrives. He was placed on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list on Monday.
Aside from recovering from surgery, Diggs was docked $500,000 of his 2025 salary after not meeting a requirement in his contract to be present in the team facility for at least 84-percent of the offseason activities. Instead of rehabbing his knee with the team training staff, he instead opted to rehab and train in South Florida with personal trainers.
On Monday, the Cowboys front office was not shy in expressing their disappointment in how Diggs has approached the offseason.
“We expect a player paid like Trevon to be here all the time,” owner and general manager Jerry Jones said. “We expect him to be leading. That’s not new ... He didn’t earn it, he didn’t come. That’s in his contract, he doesn’t get that unless he’s going to be here.”
“The deescalation is contractual,” executive vice president Stephen Jones said. “It’s spelled out. When he decided to train in South Florida, he understood what the consequences would be.”
Leadership was a buzz word for the Cowboys’ brass during its opening press conference on Monday, and that included Diggs’ role in the locker room.
“Those parts of a contract go directly toward the leadership that he is as a player relative to the rest of the team,” Jerry Jones said. “I’m big into showing anything you can do for leadership if you’re going to be one of these guys that’s in the top drawer of the money.”
It’s not immediately clear how long it will take for Diggs to make a full recovery and return to the field for the Cowboys, but it seems that he will return with a short leash. Despite having four years left on a nine-figure contract extension he signed in August 2023, the Cowboys could move on from his deal next offseason and save over $15 million.
If his return to the field doesn’t prove any value, that could become a reality for a player once thought to be the leader of the Cowboys’ defensive unit.
“It’s important to have the right body language and all of that when you are one of the rare, rare financially paid and gifted players,” Jerry Jones said. “You’ve got to have some leadership about you.”
This story was originally published July 21, 2025 at 3:38 PM.
