Now is the time for Trevon Diggs to rise above the noise, return to prime form
Ever since Trevon Diggs signed a $97 million contract extension in August 2023, just about everything that could go wrong, has gone wrong.
Less than two months later, Diggs tore his ACL in a standard weekly practice at The Star in Frisco, ending his season before it could really get started after just two games played.
In the months that followed, disagreements between Diggs and the Cowboys’ training staff started to bubble concerns to the surface about his approach to off-the-field work in the eyes of the team. Those concerns continued after a bone chondral surgery was needed in the same knee a little more than a year later, ending his 2024 campaign after just 11 games played.
In that mega-contract he signed in 2023, a clause requiring him to be in the facility for at least 84% of offseason activities became an issue when he did not meet that threshold in 2025. Instead of being in Frisco, he opted to rehab with his own specialized physical therapists in Miami.
Needless to say, the team wasn’t thrilled with that decision. For not meeting that clause he was docked $500,000 of his 2025 salary shortly after some choice words were sent in Diggs’ direction in the team’s first press conference of the season back in July.
“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.”
In addition, the front office challenged him in that July presser to become more of a leader for the players around him.
To Diggs’ credit, even though he was “hurt” by the team’s decision to enact the clause, he answered the right way. When optimistic timelines had him returning sometime after the season had already started, Diggs was ready to suit up in week one after mending fences with the rehab team and focusing on getting back to the field.
It was a giant step in the right direction at a very opportune time.
In the details of his contract, the team has a potential get-out with Diggs’ contract following this season. If the team decided to move on from Diggs in 2026, they could designate him as a post-June 1 cut and lose just $2.9 million to dead cap space in 2026 and 2027. In all, they would end up saving $57 million in the next three seasons.
Considering the injury history and the conflict behind the scenes that turned public at training camp, a case could be made that the writing has been very much on the wall for the Cowboys to make that type of decision.
However, Diggs has a yellow brick road in front of him to rewrite the narrative of his second contract with a strong start to the season and a return to prime form in 2025.
Not only was he available in Week 1, his 27 snaps in the opener signified an encouraging boost to his work ethic if you ask those same people behind the scenes who once had concerns. Now, heading into Week 2, his services are going to be called on even more.
With fellow cornerback DaRon Bland expected to miss multiple weeks with a foot/ankle sprain he suffered in practice on Monday, it is now time for Diggs to take that big step forward back into the role he shined in during 2021 (All-Pro, Pro Bowl) and 2022 (Pro Bowl.)
Even further, this defense needs its on-field leader. With Micah Parsons now gone, big shoes are available for any defender willing to bring a big game-wrecking attitude every time Matt Eberflus’ group steps between the lines. To Eberflus’ benefit, there are multiple candidates: defensive tackles Kenny Clark and Osa Odighizuwa, safety/captain Donovan Wilson, veteran Dante Fowler.
But if it were Diggs to instead fill that role, it could send a strong message to his teammates.
It’s been a tumultuous couple of years for Diggs. There’s no questioning that. But in the span of just a few weeks, the cards are laid out for him to put all of that in the past — while he still can.
This story was originally published September 11, 2025 at 5:28 PM.
