Dallas Cowboys announced on Tuesday that they release defender Trevon Diggs. The veteran defender has the right to refuse. If he clears waivers, he can sign with any team.
Any club claiming Diggs is responsible for paying him $472,000 in base salary for Week 18 and $58,823 if he is active that week. via ESPN. Diggs signed a five-year, $97 million extension with Dallas ahead of the 2023 season, in which he tore his ACL. While he's technically signed through 2028, there's no more guaranteed money left on his deal after that year.
Diggs' release was “a combination of a lot of factors, both on and off the field,” CBS Sports' top NFL insider Jonathan Jones said. reported. Clarence Hill Jr. of DLLS Sports reported that Diggs asked to remain in the Washington, D.C. area following the Cowboys' Week 17 game against the Washington Commanders. The team declined the request, but Diggs, a native of the area, stayed anyway.
“It's extremely unusual for teams to let someone not come back when there's no difficulty,” Jones said.
Diggs played the first six games of the season before an accident at his home left him with a concussion. Dallas placed him on injured reserve after re-aggravating his knee injury, but he returned to the lineup in Week 16. In eight games played this season, Diggs recorded 25 tackles with zero passes defensed and zero interceptions.
It turned out that Diggs and the Cowboys were headed for divorce earlier this month when the two sides disagreed over whether to activate the quarterback from injured reserve or not. Diggs said he's healthy enough to play against Minnesota Vikings at 15 weeks, but he was not allowed to do so.
“That was my game plan at the beginning of the week. I was included in the game plan and [Saturday] They told me I wasn't playing, so I thought I was,” Diggs said, via Garrett Podell of CBS Sports. “It was a quick decision. I thought I would come here and play, but they thought otherwise. That's what it was.”
While Diggs said he felt well enough to play, Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer and team owner and general manager Jerry Jones felt differently.
“Diggs is not healthy enough to be around us. Period,” Jones said after the loss to the Vikings. “You have to look at training and whether they are training well enough. Whether it's the limitation they've had in recent games or a long-term injury, you'll have to make a decision when you see him train. When we looked at training, we didn't like what we saw regarding his health and ability to play.”
Diggs was ultimately activated for the Week 16 match against Los Angeles Chargersand then played 100% of the defensive snaps in the Christmas Day win over Washington commanders. However, Diggs has now been allowed a change of scenery.
Diggs is a two-time Pro Bowl player and was named first team All-Pro in 2021 when he led the league in interceptions with 11. In 66 career games played, Diggs' brother New England Patriots wide receiver Stefon Diggs recorded 240 tackles, 63 passes defensed and 20 interceptions.
