The ending came on Christmas Day.
It wasn’t necessarily the last straw for the Cowboys, but another case for the file.
The Cowboys waived cornerback Trevon Diggs on Tuesday afternoon, ending six seasons of promise that included leading the league in interceptions, popularity for his young son, a contract extension, surgeries to both knees and his release with a game to go in the 2025 season.
Diggs, 27, is subjected to other teams’ examinations of his 2025 season, which has no interceptions or pass breakups on his ledger, along with questions about his health.
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The Cowboys showed patience with the talented cornerback until it ran out.
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After the Cowboys’ Christmas Day game against the Washington Commanders in Landover, Md., Diggs didn’t fly back with the team to Texas, two people with knowledge of the situation told The Dallas Morning News.
Diggs is from Gaithersburg, Md., nearly an hour from where the team played.
After the game, Diggs asked coach Brian Schottenheimer for permission to stay with family in the Maryland area, but was denied.
Diggs was the only player not on the team plane when it left for Texas. Not flying back with the team is such an act of defiance that it is hard to ignore.
Players were required to return to The Star on Monday.
You might say the Christmas Day incident was the final step in the Cowboys waiving Diggs now instead of the offseason.
During the 2025 season, several things occurred with Diggs, ranging from inconsistent performances and off-the-field issues to continuous offenses on rules violations concerning meetings and rehab work, two people familiar with the situation told The News.
Diggs had complained during the season about the number of fines from the team. He also voiced his displeasure with the defensive scheme employed by defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus.
Diggs, along with other cornerbacks, wanted to play more man-to-man. Eberflus trusted playing more zone defense until the Cowboys could generate a strong enough pass rush, something the team has failed to do consistently in 2025.
When Diggs played zone or even man-to-man, team officials grew frustrated with him not playing the scheme the correct way.
They didn’t like his freelancing.
One example occurred during a Week 3 loss at Chicago, where Diggs jammed receiver Rome Odunze with one arm, instead of playing back, giving himself space.
Odunze got by Diggs, who slipped after trying to jam the receiver, for a 35-yard touchdown reception.
Over the course of the season, Diggs dealt with health issues, from knee soreness and a concussion that occurred when a post from a television mount hit him in the head at his home.
Releasing Diggs was inevitable based on how this season has gone for both him and the team.
After undergoing knee surgery in the offseason, the Cowboys deducted $500,000 from Diggs’ base salary because he did not do enough of his contractually required rehab work with the team’s athletic staff over the summer.
When the Cowboys arrived to training camp in late July, there wasn’t a clear timeline on when Diggs could return. He worked out with the team’s athletic staff and his personal trainer as well. He wanted to prove he was fully recovered.
He pushed the team to let him play in the season opener, which he did. But he wasn’t fully healthy.
He was placed on injured reserve Oct. 25 with knee soreness and the effects of the concussion. When his 21-day practice window opened, team officials said they wanted Diggs to practice harder and work within the scheme.
When fellow corner DaRon Bland was ruled out for the season with a foot injury, Diggs returned on Dec. 21. It was a risky move by the Cowboys to play Diggs, considering his questionable health. If he had gotten injured again, they would have had to rehab him or reach an injury settlement.
But after playing two games and with the Cowboys tiring of the season-long issues away from the field, it was deemed necessary that his time with the Cowboys would end.
His popularity started quickly when fans gravitated to his young son, Aaiden Diggs, who was featured on a couple episodes of the HBO series “Hard Knocks.”
Diggs led the NFL with 11 interceptions in 2021, leading to a massive five-year, $97 million contract extension in 2023.
Knee surgeries in 2023 and 2024 slowed his development and tested the patience of Cowboys officials when it came to how Diggs handled rehab.
Diggs finished his time with the Cowboys with 20 career interceptions.
The release of Diggs means his cap hit for 2026 is reduced from $18.4 million to $5.9 million in dead money, a savings of $12.5 million.
Diggs will now pass through the waiver claim process. If he goes unclaimed, he becomes a free agent.
He will then have an opportunity to sign with a possible playoff team.
On a side note, Diggs hired a new agent, David Mulugheta, who reps one of his closest friends, Micah Parsons of the Green Bay Packers.
Maybe the Packers will come calling.
The Cowboys have hung up on Diggs and moved on.
Twitter/X: @calvinwatkins
Kevin Sherrington, Evan Grant and Calvin Watkins discuss the latest hot sports topics in North Texas.
With one game left to play in the 2025 season, the Cowboys decided to cut ties with Diggs.
From Luka Doncic to Micah Parsons, with Jerry Jones, as always, right in the middle, there was no shortage of wild Dallas sports stories in 2025.
Find more Cowboys coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.
