FRISCO, Texas – As the new year comes around, the Cowboys will enter 2026 without Trevon Diggs on their roster after waiving the sixth-year CB on Tuesday.
In his weekly Wednesday press conference, head coach Brian Schottenheimer explained the team's decision to move on from the former All-Pro.
"It was a culmination of multiple factors," Schottenheimer said. "Performance, other elements. He's been an incredible player for this organization, and I really do, I truly do like Trevon a lot, I wish him nothing but the best and I'm excited to see where he lands and watch him continue his career."
One of those factors came to light after Diggs was waived on Tuesday, as reports surfaced that Diggs did not take the team's flight back to Dallas from Washington after the Cowboys' 30-23 win over the Commanders on Christmas, and instead elected to remain in Washington with his family.
"It was one of many factors, it was not the only factor," Schottenheimer said. "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."
Schottenheimer explained that his protocol is unless there is "a family emergency or something specific," the team travels together both to and from games. He added that Diggs did not tell him he would be staying behind until the team was in the locker room following the game.
"First time I heard about it, Trevon grabbed me after the game," Schottenheimer said. "I'm celebrating a big win, and I explained to him the protocol, which has always been the protocol, we go up as a team, we come back as a team. And he decided to make a decision. I'll say this: It was not the only reason that this decision was made."
Other players had asked similar types of questions about going elsewhere with family and not returning on the team flight earlier in the week, according to Schottenheimer, and he gave them all the same answer.
While things may not have ended like the Cowboys or Diggs envisioned for his career in Dallas, Schottenheimer was complimentary of Diggs and made it clear that he holds no grudges against him, and appreciated the communication the two had even when things were difficult.
"Trevon and I had a lot of hard conversations," Schottenheimer said. "It wasn't always me, the one having the hard conversations, and that's why I think I have a soft spot for Trevon, because we had some real difficult conversations and sometimes we agreed to disagree. I don't think I did not reach him, I think at the end of the day I look back on my time with Trevon as times that I enjoyed."
More than anything, Schottenheimer emphasized that he wants the best for Diggs going forward.
"I really do like Trevon. I want what's best for him," Schottenheimer said. "At the end of the day, maybe he doesn't like some of things that we did, I don't know, you'd have to ask him that. But again, I thought he was trying to do better. Like I said, I wish him nothing but the best of luck."
With Diggs, who was one of the more tenured corners on the roster, out of the picture, Schottenheimer and the Cowboys will head into the offseason looking at both their internal and external options at the position.
Schottenheimer likes some of the players they've currently had, but is always looking to add talent at the position, and will need to.
"It's certainly an area that we'll look at," Schottenheimer said. "We've got a guy in Shavon Revel that we like, and we like Caelan Carson, Trikwese Bridges is a talented young player that needs development and seasoning… I like some of the pieces that we have, and we'll always be looking to add and keep putting the puzzle together."
