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FRISCO, Texas -- The Dallas Cowboys have released two-time Pro Bowl cornerback Trevon Diggs with one game to play.
Diggs, 27, will go through waivers and will be a free agent if he isn't claimed. The Cowboys close the season Sunday at the New York Giants.
The move ends a tumultuous two-season span that has seen the player and the organization grow apart. One source said the decision to move on from Diggs was due to "a culmination of events, including performance."
Diggs signed a five-year, $97 million contract extension in 2023, but he has played in just 21 games over the past two seasons because of knee injuries. He tore his left ACL in practice in 2023 and missed six games last year because of an issue that required a chondral graft in January in the same knee. This year, he missed eight games with an issue with his right knee and suffered a concussion from an at-home accident that he later disclosed came when he was attempting to install a television mount.
If a team were to claim Diggs off waivers, it would be on the hook for the $472,000 he is due in base salary for Week 18, plus $58,823 if he is active this week, according to ESPN's Field Yates. Diggs has no guaranteed money on his deal beyond this season.
The Cowboys had problems with how Diggs rehabbed in each of the past two years. The club enforced a $500,000 base salary de-escalator for 2025 when he failed to take part in 84% of the team's voluntary offseason program. He chose to do his rehab work in South Florida instead of under the supervision of the team's athletic training staff.
He opened training camp on the physically unable to perform list but was activated in time to play the first game of the season. He expressed the desire to play more man-to-man coverage in a meeting with defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus with the unit off to a poor start.
In the eight games he played, Diggs was credited with 27 tackles, 1 tackle for loss and 2 pressures, but he did not have a pass breakup or an interception. He had had at least one interception in each of his previous five seasons, including 11 in 2021, which tied a franchise record and earned him a first-team All-Pro honor.
Diggs, a second-round pick in 2020, was named to the Pro Bowl in 2021 and 2022.
Diggs was likely a candidate to be released after the season, which would have opened up roughly $12 million in cap space. The Cowboys placed another former Pro Bowl cornerback, DaRon Bland, on injured reserve two weeks ago with a foot injury.
They have rookies�Shavon Revel�and Trikweze Bridges, along with Caelen Carson, Reddy Steward and Corey Ballentine on the active roster, with Zion Childress on the practice squad.
