Kamal Hadden is out for the year. Nate Hobbs is headed in that direction as well. Bo Melton has never taken a snap at cornerback in a regular-season game.
The Green Bay Packers are decimated with injuries across the board, but especially at cornerback. On top of the injuries, Keisean Nixon and Carrington Valentine haven’t been great as of late.
Green Bay’s decision to claim Trevon Diggs off waivers is a low-risk move that gives them another option for the postseason. By claiming Diggs on Wednesday, the Packers will be responsible for $472,000 in base salary and an additional $58,000 if he’s active this week, per ESPN.
That’s for a player in Diggs who had just signed a five-year, $93 million contract extension with the Dallas Cowboys in 2023. What Green Bay will be forking over are pennies in the world of the NFL. There’s no long-term commitment. There’s no heavy financial burden on this move because they claimed Diggs instead of signing him as a free agent. It was a move that seemed like a no-brainer. Still, given how the Packers operate, it was far from a guarantee they would place a claim on the former Cowboys cornerback.
Perhaps Diggs’ former teammate Micah Parsons put in a good word. Maybe Jordan Love spoke up. The same agent represents all three. Whatever the case, banking on Diggs to step in and save the day is extremely unrealistic, but the bank wasn’t broken to get him either.
Diggs’ play has really taken a step back in recent seasons, and due to knee injuries, he was limited to just 21 games in the last two years. In eight games this year, per PFF, quarterbacks have a perfect passer rating (158.3) when targeting Diggs. He has zero interceptions and zero pass breakups.
If that sounds familiar — especially the last note about Diggs’ numbers — there is room for a little bit of optimism.
Throughout his career, Diggs’ best trait might just be his ability to be a ball hawk. Diggs had at least three interceptions in each of his first three seasons. Two were taken back for touchdowns, and he had 11 interceptions in 2021 alone, which led the NFL.
Green Bay doesn’t have that anywhere in its cornerback room.
The trio of Nixon, Valentine, and Hobbs certainly weren’t delivering in that department. They never have. Green Bay was lacking a Rasul Douglas, a Tramon Williams, or a Sam Shields. Those were cornerbacks in past years who may not have been All-Pros, but they reeled in interceptions.
This year, Green Bay’s cornerbacks have a grand total of one interception. It was a big one and came when Nixon picked off Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams to seal a victory for Green Bay. The problem is that there have been plenty of other opportunities for Packers corners this year to haul in turnovers, and they haven’t stepped up.
Throughout Diggs’ career, if you put it in his lap, he’ll pick it off. Green Bay doesn’t have a guy like that.
If there are character concerns, given how things ended in Dallas, keep in mind Diggs could appear in one, maybe two games for the Packers. Obviously, the hope is for more, and for Green Bay to make a deep playoff run. Regardless, this isn’t a multi-year commitment.
It’s also true that if Diggs were playing even remotely close to the standard he set in his first couple of seasons in the NFL, Dallas would’ve never cut ties. In a somewhat odd set of circumstances, Diggs stayed back in Washington, D.C. with family after Dallas’ Christmas Day game against the Washington Commanders. The team didn’t approve it and cut Diggs shortly after.
Head coach Brian Schottenheimer clarified that it wasn’t just the Christmas Day fiasco with Diggs not being on the team plane that led to his release.
It was one of many factors. It was not the only factor. I’m not the Grinch that stole Christmas. I love Christmas. I love my family. But, at the end of the day, we have a protocol that we go through, and the process was not followed.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to recognize that the other factor was poor play.
The hope for Green Bay is that a new environment can unlock the Diggs of seasons past. Look at what Eric Stokes has done in Las Vegas this year after everyone counted him out last offseason. The Packers will hope a change of scenery gives Diggs that breath of fresh air.
If it doesn’t? Oh, well. Green Bay will be on the hook for slightly more than $500,000, which is nothing compared to NFL contracts. This was a low-risk, why-not sort of move for the Packers that they hope will pack an extra punch come playoff time.