Caelen Carson

Cowboys CB Trevon Diggs Aiming To Return By September

July 29th, 2025 at 12:40pm CST by Adam La Rose

It remains to be seen when Trevon Diggs will be available to the Cowboys in 2025. Positive strides have been made in his recovery, though, and the sixth-year corner does not anticipate a long stretch of missed games to begin the campaign.

Diggs has yet to receive clearance as he works his way back from an ACL tear, and an update from earlier this month confirmed some missed time during the regular is expected. The two-time Pro Bowler has long been seen as a candidate to start 2025 on the reserve/PUP list; that designation would ensure at least a four-game absence. However, Diggs said in an interview with Clarence Hill Jr. of All City DLLS that he does not expect a stay on the PUP list to be necessary.

If that holds true, the Cowboys’ secondary would receive a boost early in the year. Diggs – who was recently fined $500K for not spending the mandated portion of his offseason rehab at the team’s facility – will be tasked with reprising his starting cornerback role once back in the fold. The Alabama product was limited to two games in 2023 before his latest injury cut last year’s campaign short. A clean bill of health would be key as Diggs looks to regain the ballhawking form shown early in his career.

“I’ll assure you that the minute that he’s able to go, I’m counting on him being a big addition,” owner Jerry Jones said when speaking about Diggs’ situation (via ESPN’s Todd Archer). For now, the 26-year-old resides on the active/PUP list. He can be activated at any time, but a decision will need to be made prior to final roster cuts on shifting him to the reserve list or carrying him on the active roster despite the risk of still being unavailable for Week 1.

Dallas currently has a number of injury concerns at the cornerback spot, so a positive update on the Diggs front will be welcomed. From a financial perspective, 2025 looms as a critical year in his case. Diggs has three years remaining on his contract, but none of his base salaries for 2026 or ’27 are guaranteed. Next offseason thus represents a potential out for the Cowboys, and deciding on retaining or moving on from the former second-rounder will depend in large part on his health and performances this season.

In other CB injury news, Archer reports Caelen Carson suffered a hyperextended knee over the weekend. As a result, a recovery timeline of four to six weeks is expected and the second-year cover man could be in danger of missing regular season time. The same remains true of Diggs, but his prognosis is currently in a good spot.

Cowboys CB Trevon Diggs Expected To Miss Start Of Season; Team Not Pressed To Make CB Addition

July 13th, 2025 at 8:11am CST by Rory Parks

It appears as if Cowboys cornerback Trevon Diggs will indeed miss time in 2025. Diggs, who just finished the first year of the five-year, $97MM extension he landed in July 2023, began battling injuries shortly after signing the deal, and Joseph Hoyt of the Dallas Morning News confirms the Alabama product is not expected to be ready for the start of the upcoming season.

Diggs, 27 in September, earned First Team All-Pro acclaim in 2021 after leading the league with a whopping 11 interceptions. He put forth another Pro Bowl effort the following season, which triggered the big-money extension. Unfortunately, Diggs played just two games in 2023 due to a torn ACL, and he played through a calf injury for the first 10 games of the 2024 campaign before his knee flared up and forced him to miss all but one contest the rest of the way.

While the new injury was in the same knee in which he suffered the ACL tear, the two ailments are unrelated. Nonetheless, Diggs’ second knee problem necessitated surgery, and despite his hopes to be in the Week 1 lineup, we have been hearing for some time that his early-season availability is in doubt.

Diggs is one of a handful of players on Dallas’ CB depth chart dealing with health concerns. Third-round rookie Shavon Revel suffered a torn ACL of his own in his final year at East Carolina, and though he is presently expected to return in the middle of training camp, it is fair to wonder how effective he will be given the nature of his injury and the fact that he will not have had the benefit of a full offseason program in advance of his first professional season.

Second-year player Caelen Carson ended his rookie slate on IR and underwent shoulder surgery this offseason. Luckily, Hoyt indicates Carson will be a full-go for training camp, and the writer also says the Cowboys are comfortable with the current makeup of their secondary.

In other words, the club does not feel a pressing need to make an outside addition at this point, even with Diggs’ presumed absence. We have already heard that trade acquisition Kaiir Elam is penciled in as one starter, and DaRon Bland – who missed the first 10 games of the 2024 season due to a stress fracture – has another starting job secured. Although he has not seen much time in the slot in his career, Bland took plenty of reps in that role in spring practices as Dallas seeks a replacement for former slot defender Jourdan Lewis.

Elam has generally failed to live up to his status as a former first-round pick of the Bills, and uncertainty abounds throughout the rest of the position group, but it appears the Cowboys will take a wait-and-see approach with respect to a veteran signing. Hoyt still believes such a move is a distinct possibility, and he names former Cowboy Stephon Gilmore – who was seen at the team facility before the draft – as a potential target.

Gilmore, the 2019 Defensive Player of the Year who has had a nomadic existence over the last few seasons, was a full-time starter for Dallas in 2023. He played reasonably well, limiting opposing passers to a QB rating of 82.7 and a 55.8% completion percentage, and he hopes to play in 2025.

Cowboys Activate WR Brandin Cooks From IR

November 27th, 2024 at 3:11pm CST by Sam Robinson

After a week back at practice, Brandin Cooks is ready to go. The Cowboys will have the veteran wide receiver for their Thanksgiving Day game.

The team activated Cooks from IR on Wednesday. Cooks will certainly return to a team with a different outlook, as he has been out since Week 4. The Cowboys are now 4-7 and teetering on the brink of falling out of even fringe contention this season.

This is the second year of Cooks’ reworked Cowboys deal; he is due for free agency in 2025. Traded an NFL-record-tying four times, Cooks has never hit the market. The Saints (2017), Patriots (2018), Rams (2020) and Texans (2023) have traded him, with the returns lowering as the 2014 first-round pick has moved into the latter part of his career. Cooks, 31, can attempt to create a decent market for himself with a nice finish.

The 11th-year pass catcher will not be working with Dak Prescott, as he had in every other game in his Cowboys career. Cooper Rush is currently taking the snaps, with Trey Lance set for situational work. Prescott is out for the season after undergoing hamstring surgery.

Following Brandon Marshall in tallying 1,000-yard seasons for four different teams, Cooks did not run that number to five last season. He did serve as the Cowboys’ No. 2 wideout, accumulating 657 yards and eight touchdowns — his most since 2016 — in 16 games last season. Dallas has seen third-year player Jalen Tolbert (37 receptions, 410 yards, four TDs) become a regularly used contributor since Cooks’ injury, but a sizable gulf still exists between CeeDee Lamb and everyone else in Dallas’ passing attack.

The Cowboys also announced they placed tackle Asim Richards and cornerback Caelen Carson on IR. Carson, a rookie fifth-round pick, played a regular role for a stretch this season, seeing 252 defensive snaps in five games. A 2023 fifth-rounder, Richards played 128 snaps on offense this season. He made one start. Both players could return after four missed games, but the Cowboys have four injury activations remaining. One may still go to DeMarcus Lawrence, who joins Cooks in being out since the Cowboys’ first Giants matchup.

Cowboys Sign Round 1 T Tyler Guyton, Six Other Draftees

May 9th, 2024 at 7:18pm CST by Sam Robinson

With some teams set for rookie minicamps this weekend, a flurry of draft pick signings is transpiring Thursday. The Cowboys are in on the action; all but one of their draftees is now under contract.

This includes a deal with first-round tackle Tyler Guyton, ESPN.com’s Todd Archer tweets. Dallas inked the Oklahoma prospect, whom the team drafted at No. 29 overall. Holdouts involving first-rounders are much rarer now thanks to the NFL’s slot system, which came to be as part of the 2011 CBA. Guyton’s four-year deal (feat. a fifth-year option) will be fully guaranteed.

The Cowboys have also signed offensive lineman Cooper Beebe (Round 3, Kansas State), linebacker Marist Liufau (Round 3), cornerback Caelen Carson (Round 5), wide receiver Ryan Flournoy, tackle Nathan Thomas (Round 6) and defensive tackle Justin Rogers (Round 7). Only second-rounder Marshawn Kneeland is unsigned. The second round has featured the longest waits in recent years, due to each draft seeing guarantee gains made by second-round picks.

Guyton looks to have a clear path to being the Cowboys’ Week 1 left tackle. Although the prospect of the team moving Tyler Smith back to left tackle surfaced earlier this offseason, it looks like — for the time being, at least — the team plans to keep its versatile left-sider at left guard. The Cowboys saw both Smith and Zack Martin earn All-Pro honors last season, helping the team withstand the losses of All-Decade LT Tyron Smith and center starter Tyler Biadasz. Beebe, chosen out of Kansas State, has a decent shot at taking over at center.

Dallas held the No. 24 overall pick but moved down five spots (via Detroit) and landed Guyton at 29. The extra selection turned into Beebe. Guyton will be asked to make the less common transition from college right tackle to NFL LT. The Saints may well ask Taliese Fuaga to do the same this year, though that is not certain just yet. Guyton stands 6-foot-8 — three inches taller than Tyron Smith — and 322 pounds. This year’s draft featured one of the best tackle crops in recent draft history; Guyton became the ninth tackle — if Duke LT (and likely Buccaneers center) Graham Barton is counted — chosen this year.

A TCU transfer, Guyton only made 14 college starts and did not earn first- or second-team All-Big 12 acclaim while a Sooner. But he checked in as a first-round-caliber talent. And the Cowboys have found a number of standouts in Round 1 — from Martin to the Smiths to Micah Parsons to CeeDee Lamb — over the past several years. They will hope Guyton can become a long-term blindside presence post-Tyron Smith, who joined the Jets in free agency.