FRISCO, Texas (AP) — The Cowboys waived cornerback Trevon Diggs on Tuesday, ending a tumultuous final season a game early in a Dallas career that never lived up to the promise of a 2021 All-Pro performance that included 11 interceptions.
The move came five days before Dallas' season finale Sunday at the New York Giants, with the Cowboys (7-8-1) already guaranteed to miss the playoffs for the second year in a row. Diggs will be a free agent after clearing waivers.
The season began with Diggs playing in the opener, earlier than expected coming off the recovery from his second major knee surgery in two years.
Diggs played six games before sustaining a concussion in an accident at home Oct. 16, something Diggs waited two months to try to explain to reporters. He said he was trying to install a TV when he was hit in the head by a mounting pole.
As Diggs' absence continued after he was out of the concussion protocol, the team said his delayed return was more about issues with the 27-year-old's knees. He ended up missing eight games.
Asked during the absence what the team needed to see from Diggs to get him back on the field, coach Brian Schottenheimer said the sixth-year player needed to show consistency in many areas in practice and in meetings. Owner Jerry Jones flatly said near the end of the absence that Diggs wasn't healthy enough to play.
A person with knowledge of the decision told The Associated Press that waiving Diggs before the end of the season wasn't the result of a specific incident.
Diggs' departure was a culmination of factors, including performance and off-field issues, and the move was best for Diggs and the Cowboys, the person said on condition of anonymity because the team wasn't commenting specifically on Diggs.
The Cowboys withheld a workout bonus in Diggs' contract after he spent last offseason rehabbing his latest knee injury with his own medical personnel. He was also benched by Schottenheimer early in the season for reasons the coach never fully explained.
Just as it appeared the Cowboys had settled on keeping Diggs off the field the rest of season, fellow starting cornerback DaRon Bland was sidelined by a season-ending foot injury two weeks ago.
Diggs played twice more, against the Los Angeles Chargers and Washington. He was activated the last day before a deadline that would have required the Cowboys to keep him on injured reserve the rest of the season.
Diggs was already a prime candidate to be released in the offseason in a cost-cutting move, three years after he signed a $97 million extension.
The finale against the Giants will be the 30th game without Diggs in uniform since the start of the 2023 season. His NFL-leading total of 11 interceptions in 2021 was the most in the league since Dallas rookie Everson Walls had 11 in 1981. Diggs has had five picks in 38 games since then.
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Los Angeles Chargers wide receiver Keenan Allen (13) makes a catch in front of Dallas Cowboys cornerback Trevon Diggs (7) during the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Dallas Cowboys cornerback Trevon Diggs (7) walks along he sideline during the first half of an NFL football game against the Los Angeles Chargers, Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
BOSTON (AP) — New England Patriots star wide receiver Stefon Diggs is facing strangulation and other criminal charges in connection with a dispute with his former private chef, police said.
News of the charges emerged after a court hearing Tuesday in Dedham, Massachusetts. Diggs is charged with felony strangulation or suffocation and misdemeanor assault and battery.
Diggs’ lawyer, David Meier, said in an emailed statement that Diggs “categorically denies these allegations.”
Meier said the allegations never occurred, describing them as unsubstantiated and uncorroborated. A court arraignment is scheduled for Jan. 23.
“The timing and motivation for making the allegations is crystal clear: they are the direct result of an employee-employer financial dispute that was not resolved to the employee’s satisfaction,” Meier wrote.
In a statement, the Patriots said they were also standing by Diggs: “We support Stefon,” the team said.
A police narrative in a court filing about the case said a woman came to the Dedham Police Department on Dec. 16 to say that two weeks earlier, while working as a private chef for Diggs, he came into her bedroom and became angry during a discussion about money. The woman told police Diggs “smacked her across the face,” she tried to push him away and then he “tried to choke her using the crook of his elbow around her neck.”
“She said that he was behind her with his arm wrapped around her,” wrote Officer Kenneth J. Ellis. “She said that she did feel like she had trouble breathing and that she felt like she could have blacked out.” Diggs threw her on a bed and said “lies” when she told him she had not been paid, Ellis wrote.
The chef sought payment for a week in November when Diggs was having houseguests and she had to go home, Ellis wrote. The woman “left her position” and the home in Dedham but returned on Dec. 9 to retrieve her property. At that point, she told police, Diggs referred her to his assistant, who told the woman she had to sign a non-disclosure agreement before she would be paid. She did not sign it, police said.
The woman was reluctant to file charges until last week, Ellis wrote, when “she let me know that she had changed her mind from a few days ago” and wanted criminal charges.
Diggs, 32, established himself as one of the NFL’s best wide receivers during a run with Minnesota and Buffalo from 2018 to 2023, when he had six consecutive 1,000-yard receiving seasons and was selected to the Pro Bowl four times.
After a lackluster stint in Houston last year, Diggs ended up in New England, signing a three-year, $69 million deal in free agency that guaranteed him $26 million.
Diggs has proven a reliable target for second-year quarterback Drake Maye and is a big reason why the team has once again clinched the AFC East title as the team heads toward the playoffs.
Off the field, though, his tenure with the Patriots got off to a rocky start when a video surfaced on social media in May showing Diggs passing what appeared to be a bag of pink crystals to women on a boat.
It wasn’t clear what the substance was, and an NFL spokesperson said the league would not comment. Patriots coach Mike Vrabel said the team would handle that matter internally.
Grammy Award-winning rapper Cardi B has posted photos in recent months of the newborn son she has with Diggs.
AP reporter Mark Scolforo in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, contributed.
FILE - New England Patriots wide receiver Stefon Diggs (8) leaves the field following an NFL football game against the Cincinnati Bengals, Sunday, Nov 23, 2025, in Cincinnati, Ohio. (AP Photo/Peter Joneleit, File)
New England Patriots wide receiver Stefon Diggs (8) runs against the Baltimore Ravens during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
