The Minnesota Vikings have been hunting top-end cornerback talent for years and an opportunity to secure that type of player just opened up via an unexpected move from the Dallas Cowboys.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones abruptly released two-time Pro Bowl cornerback Trevon Diggs on Tuesday, December 30, just one week ahead of the end of the regular season.
“The Cowboys have released cornerback Trevon Diggs,” Todd Archer of ESPN reported on X. “He goes through the waiver process and if unclaimed, he will be a free agent.”
Diggs confirmed the report, per Jane Slater of NFL Network.
“Trevon Diggs just called me to tell me the Cowboys have released him,” Slater posted to social media. “While he says he will miss his time in Dallas, he assures me he is healthy and motivated as he looks to join another team looking for another piece to add this postseason.”
Trevon Diggs Might Not Make Sense for Vikings as Waiver Claim, but Free Agency May Prove Option
GettyFormer Dallas Cowboys cornerback Trevon Diggs.
Diggs’ desire to join a playoff team headed to the postseason two weeks from now could be a hitch for the Vikings, though he won’t have that option unless he clears waivers and gets to pick his team in free agency.
Minnesota could claim him if no team ahead of the Vikings does so and Diggs would be a member of the Vikings. Diggs, 27, has three seasons remaining on a five-year contract worth $97 million total. However, Minnesota wouldn’t have to worry about the onerous nature of that deal beyond next Sunday.
“If a team were to claim Diggs off of 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,” Archer reported. “Diggs has no guaranteed money on his deal beyond this season.”
Trevon Diggs Has Serious Injury History, but Vikings Should Consider Taking That Risk
GettyFormer Dallas Cowboys cornerback Trevon Diggs.
The Vikings have nothing left to play for, so adding Diggs now would be an approximately half-million hit with no immediate payoff. The idea, though, might be to pull him off the market with the knowledge that Minnesota intends to extend him on a lucrative deal beginning in 2026.
However, the much more likely scenarios are either that a playoff team with cap space swoops in behind the Vikings and picks up Diggs for the postseason run, or that the cornerback clears waivers and inks a deal with such a franchise for the remainder of the 2025-26 campaign.
Once the NFL year officially ends Diggs can enter free agency, at which point the Vikings would be most likely to pursue him, assuming they deem he can be signed at value when considering his asking price and extensive injury history.
Vikings Have Tried, Failed Numerous Times to Build Out Secondary Over Past 4 Seasons
GettyCornerback Byron Murphy Jr. of the Minnesota Vikings.
Diggs missed 15 games with injury in 2023, six contests due to health issues last year and will play in just nine of 17 outings this season if he suits up for Week 18.
He has not been a Pro Bowler since 2022, at least in significant part due to his injury concerns, and any team interested in inking him to a longterm contract will have to seriously consider those facts and their implications.
That said, the Vikings have hit a point in their recent history of drafting and signing secondary contributors that taking a big swing/risk on a player like Diggs is a move they should most definitely consider.
The team demoted cornerback Isaiah Rodgers to a part-time role late this year due to his open-field tackling issues, while Jeff Okudah has not panned out. That leaves Byron Murphy Jr. as the only cemented starter at the position heading into next season.
Minnesota drafted six defensive backs between 2022-2024: Lewis Cine, Andrew Booth, Akayleb Evans (2022); Mekhi Blackmon, Jay Ward (2023); Khyree Jackson (2024).
Jackson died tragically in a car wreck before ever playing a snap for Minnesota. Cine left the team after the 2023 campaign and didn’t see an NFL snap in 2025. Booth hasn’t played a regular-season down this year, either, while Evans is primarily serving as a special teams contributor with the Carolina Panthers.
Blackmon has found a role with the Indianapolis Colts as a part-time starter, while Ward is the only one of the six secondary players Minnesota drafted in that three-year span who remains a member of the defense.
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