Packers make a tough call that ultimately proved inevitable for a roster facing hard truths about its future
Green Bay released cornerback Trevon Diggs after just two games with the team.
The Green Bay Packers could have tried to find a way to keep cornerback Trevon Diggs. Ultimately, though, it was a negotiation that general manager Brian Gutekunst and executive vice president Russl Ball didn’t want. So, the Packers simply released Diggs on Tuesday.
Cut by the Dallas Cowboys and claimed off waivers by the Packers ahead of Week 18, Diggs played 33 defensive snaps against the Minnesota Vikings in regular season finale, when the team decided to rest starters, but only one snap against the Chicago Bears in the playoffs.
Why the Packers decided to release Trevon Diggs
When the Packers claimed Diggs off waivers, they absorbed only $530k in guarantees — the proration of his 2025 salary for one week. However, the deal also had essentially team options for 2026 ($15.5 million), 2027 ($20.5 million), and 2028 ($21 million).
Based on Diggs’ recent production, there was no way the Packers or any NFL team would pay that, and that’s why Green Bay was the only team to put a waiver claim on him.
The Packers had the option to work alongside Trevon Diggs’ agent, David Mulugheta, on a restructure to keep him around, but that would have to be a totally different contract anyway. For Diggs, it just makes more sense to be cut again and negotiate his next deal as a free agent.
Even though the season is over for the Packers, Trevon Diggs is not a real free agent yet, as he goes through waivers again like he did in the regular season — vested veterans go through waivers between the trade deadline and the start of the new league year in March. In the unlikely scenario that a team claims him, the waiver claim would be deferred until after the Super Bowl.
Technically, the Packers can still bring Diggs back on a smaller deal after he clears waivers. But this move shows that they saw the veteran cornerback just as an emergency option for a depleted room down the stretch.
Now, the Packers’ CB room has Keisean Nixon, Carrington Valentine, Nate Hobbs, Jaylin Simpson, and Shemar Bartholomew. Tyron Herring has signed a futures deal, and the Packers could easily bring Kamal Hadden and Bo Melton back as exclusive rights free agents.
Cap situation
After trading for Micah Parsons and giving him a four-year, $186 million contract extension, plus several big deals for Jordan Love, Rashan Gary, Aaron Banks, Elgton Jenkins, Xavier McKinney, Zach Tom, Josh Jacobs, and the fifth-year option for Devonte Wyatt, the Packers have a complicated cap situation for 2026.
The team was $24.6 million over the projected cap, with 65 players signed — and that doesn’t count the draft picks or any of the free agents who will potentially be back. Without Diggs, whose cap hit would be set to be $15.029 million, the Packers are now around $9.5 million over the cap, a much more manageable situation.
Other tough decisions are still on the way, though, and they may include releasing Jenkins and Gary, for instance, or going back to the days of restructuring contracts to move cap hits to future years.
Corresponding moves
Beyond releasing Trevon Diggs, the Packers made two smaller additions to the offseason 90-man roster. The team signed former Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Kyle McCord and former Carolina Panthers interior defensive lineman Jaden Crumedy to future deals.
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