GREEN BAY – Four months after pulling off a blockbuster trade for Micah Parsons, the Packers have acquired one of his favorite teammates in All-Pro cornerback Trevon Diggs.
With mounting injuries in the secondary, Green Bay claimed Diggs off waivers from Dallas on Thursday.
The 27-year-old cornerback has compiled 240 tackles, 63 passes defensed, 20 interceptions (two returned for touchdowns) and two forced fumbles in 66 regular-season games with 63 starts.
Here are five things to know about Diggs:
- Parsons already voiced his approval of Diggs' addition.
The five-time Pro Bowl pass rusher took to social media shortly after the Packers were awarded Diggs on Wednesday, posting on X: "We're back … " with a saluting face emoji.
The two grew close during their time in Dallas, which began during a 2021 season in which Parsons won NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year while Diggs was named first-team All-Pro.
Their bond was tighter when Diggs tore his anterior cruciate ligament in 2023. Parsons also went to X that day to write: "I am my brother's keeper! I got you 7! No more need to be said!"
When the Cowboys opted to trade Parsons to Green Bay in August rather than coming to terms on a contract extension, Diggs reacted with a broken heart emoji on X.
Days later, Diggs told Dallas media: "I was really surprised, I really thought (an extension) was going to get done so we could just stay a family. Just him being here all his years, but unfortunately that's not what God had for him."
The two reunited when the Packers and Cowboys played to a 40-40 tie in Week 4 at AT&T Stadium. After the game, the two embraced at midfield and swapped jerseys.
"Without a doubt I was going to give him my jersey and he was going to get mine – that's my brother for life," Parsons said. "He knows that I love him beyond football. I love him for the person he is. So, we're forever locked in."
Coincidentally, Parsons underwent surgery earlier this week to repair the torn ACL he suffered in December in Denver.
- Parsons isn't Diggs' only connection to Green Bay.
Before breaking into the NFL as a second-round pick in 2020, the 6-foot-2, 204-pound cornerback played for Packers defensive passing game coordinator Derrick Ansley at Alabama.
During his final season with the Crimson Tide in 2017, Ansley was tasked with overseeing Diggs' transition from playing both sides of the ball as a freshman to strictly defense.
The topic even came up earlier this summer when Ansley was asked about the Packers moving Bo Melton from receiver to cornerback.
"I did at Alabama with Trevon Diggs," said Ansley on Aug. 10. "We moved him from receiver to safety first and then moved him to corner. The same thing with Alontae Taylor when I was at Tennessee. We've had some experience in the past."
Diggs also was college teammates with Packers safety Xavier McKinney and running back Josh Jacobs, all of whom were a part of Alabama's 2017 national championship team.
McKinney and Diggs were both named first-team All-SEC in 2019 and drafted within 15 picks of one another in 2020. The Giants took McKinney at No. 36 prior to the Cowboys selecting Diggs 51st overall.
Diggs played four seasons for former Packers head coach Mike McCarthy while also learning under former Green Bay cornerback Al Harris, who coached the Cowboys' defensive backs from 2020-24.
- Diggs' 2021 campaign was one for the record books.
Diggs made the PFWA All-Rookie team in 2020 after leading the Cowboys with three interceptions but then took his game to an entirely different level in 2021.
That season, Diggs tied a franchise record with 11 interceptions – returning two for touchdowns – to become the first Cowboy to lead the NFL in picks since Everson Walls in 1981. Diggs and Walls remain the only cornerbacks to have 11 or more interceptions in a single season over the past 45 NFL seasons.
Diggs started the season on a six-game interception streak to snap Don Bishop's 50-year-old franchise record of five games in a row. He was also just the fourth player in NFL history at the time – first since 2003 – to tally a pick in each of the first six games of a season.
For his efforts, Diggs was named a Pro Bowl starter and became the first Dallas cornerback to receive first-team All-Pro honors since Deion Sanders in 1999. He was later voted No. 23 in the NFL Top 100 Players entering the 2022 season.
- He's battled through injury the past three seasons.
A little more than a month after signing a contract extension with Dallas in 2023, Diggs tore his ACL in practice while preparing for a Week 3 matchup with the Arizona Cardinals.
Diggs' season was over after just two games in which he'd already registered eight tackles, three passes defensed and an interception.
He made it back to play in the first 11 games of the 2024 season, highlighted by his end-zone interception of Philadelphia quarterback Jalen Hurts on Nov. 10. It was the 20th INT of Diggs' career and his third off Hurts.
Weeks later, Diggs suffered a knee injury that sidelined him for the final six games. He played in the first six games this season before being placed on injured reserve in October due to lingering concussion symptoms. He started the two past weeks for Dallas before his release.
- Green Bay was in need of secondary reinforcements.
The Packers lost cornerbacks Nate Hobbs (knee) and Kamal Hadden (ankle), and safety Zayne Anderson (ankle) during last Saturday's 41-24 loss to the Baltimore Ravens.
All three were placed on injured reserve this week, sidelining them for at least four games. Head Coach Matt LaFleur confirmed earlier this week Hadden will not return this season.
With just three healthy cornerbacks (Keisean Nixon, Carrington Valentine and Melton) on the 53-man roster, the Packers pulled up Jaylin Simpson, Johnathan Baldwin and Shemar Bartholomew from the practice squad. Only Bartholomew (17 snaps) has played defense in an NFL regular season.
