Trevon Diggs‘ recovery from an ACL tear sustained during practice has reached a key stage. The All-Pro cornerback is ready to practice once again. He is officially off Dallas’ active/PUP list.
The Cowboys had nearly a month to activate Diggs from their active/PUP list, a training camp-only designation, but his being ready before August represents a positive direction for this particularly rehab odyssey. Team officials, per the Dallas Morning News’ David Moore, have been confident Diggs will be ready for Week 1. Today’s activation certainly points to a return on time.
Dallas managed to remain a top-tier defense despite losing the former 11-interception player early last season. DaRon Bland delivered a ballhawk season for the ages, setting an NFL record with five pick-sixes. The Cowboys now have 11- and nine-INT players rostered at corner, and they are close to playing together once again. Dallas has planned a Diggs-Bland-Jourdan Lewis trio at the position under new DC Mike Zimmer, and the veteran coach will see his top troops together for the first time.
It sounds like the Cowboys will ease Diggs back into action, per ESPN.com’s Todd Archer. That makes sense given that the fifth-year corner is just more than 10 months removed from the injury. Diggs going down so early last season helps him on this front, and the injury did not end up costing him any value. The Cowboys extended the former second-round pick during last year’s training camp, and the injury soon made signing early — as opposed to playing out his rookie contract — an important decision.
Diggs, who will turn 26 in September, earned first-team All-Pro honors in 2021 — after he became the first 11-INT player since Cowboys then-rookie Everson Walls in 1981. Diggs parlayed that season into a five-year deal worth $97MM. That still ranks fifth among CBs. In terms of AAV, this year’s batch of cornerback accords — for the likes of Jaylon Johnson, L’Jarius Sneed and Tyson Campbell — did not eclipse that. Though, each of the three 2024 big-ticket CB extension recipients outdid Diggs for guarantees.
The team has not re-signed Stephon Gilmore, who remains a free agent. But Zimmer will soon see how the Diggs-Bland-Lewis trio looks in practice. Diggs has started 46 games for the Cowboys, becoming one of the team’s many draft finds in recent years. The Alabama alum will hope to join Lewis in putting an injury-marred chapter behind him.