It has been two years since the Cowboys handed out an eye-opening contract to cornerback Trevon Diggs, and at the time, it seemed like a very good idea. Diggs had been one of the best cornerbacks in the NFL in 2021, with a league-best 11 interceptions and a quarterback rating allowed of 55.8. He followed that up with a good year in 2022, and the Cowboys rewarded him with five years and $97 million.
Since then, though, things have gone sideways for Diggs. He suffered a torn ACL in practice, just two games into the 2023 season. He returned in 2024 for 11 games, but the injury bug bit again, first with a groin problem. Then, Diggs needed another surgery on the knee he’d gotten fixed the previous year.
This year, Diggs has played six games and has been a disaster when healthy, allowing a rating of 148.7 to passers throwing his way. He went out with a concussion at first, after Week 6, but it was subsequently announced that Diggs was also dealing with another knee injury–this time, in his right knee, not the left knee that had been surgically repaired the previous year.
Cowboys Turn to McCoy
Diggs is slated to return to the Cowboys this week, on Thursday against the Lions, but it’s become clear that he might not be long for the team. At The Athletic, draft guru Dane Brugler is projecting that the Cowboys will address the problem in this year’s draft, by taking Jermod McCoy of Tennessee.
The irony there, though, is that McCoy is also dealing with a knee injury. Wrote Brugler:
“With Trevon Diggs’ future in Dallas in doubt, the Cowboys might look to upgrade at cornerback.
“Since he’s coming back from an ACL tear, McCoy hasn’t produced any 2025 tape to evaluate. However, his 2024 tape was outstanding, and he will be more than a year removed from his injury by the NFL Scouting Combine. Dallas has never been shy about taking chances on players coming off injury.”
GettyDefensive back Jermod McCoy #3 of the Tennessee Volunteers
Cowboys Also Add CJ Allen
The Cowboys do, indeed, have no aversion to drafting injured players, as they did with East Carolina’s Shavon Revel, another cornerback the team could potentially use to replace Diggs, long-term. There’s also 2024 fifth-rounder Caelan Carson, who has a potential to stick.
But the Cowboys want to use DeRon Bland in the slot, and that has left them thin at corner on the edges. Diggs will help fill that gap for now, but it’s a position that could certainly use draft help in Dallas.
Brugler also has the Cowboys taking CJ Allen from Georgia, a linebacker who could help bolster another thin position on the roster. Allen would come with the pick the Cowboys got from the Packers. It’s doubtful that the Cowboys would use a first-rounder on a linebacker, but depth there would be useful, too.
Trevon Diggs Butting Heads With Cowboys Coaches?
As for Diggs, he still has five games to show he can be something close to what the Cowboys thought they were getting when they handed him the big contract. He conceded to reporters that his relationship with the coaching staff is, “a growing relationship,” indicating that there have been rough patches.
The coaching staff is not going anywhere, though. So maybe Diggs will, but first he must show he is still a useful player.
“I feel way better now cause you don’t know how you’re going to feel when you get out there,” Diggs said. “And then I went out there and I was feeling good the first couple of weeks, and then it starts to weigh on me a little bit and I started to get some swelling in my knee. and then like now, I have no swelling in my knee. I feel good. I feel like I’m running good. I feel like my hamstrings strong, everything is good, strong. I feel ready.”
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