It’s been a nightmare of a season for the Dallas Cowboys based on the injury front. It has affected the season in a great way, and is the main catalyst for the 5-8 record the Cowboys are taking into Carolina today.
Let’s take a look at just how bad the injuries have been. Name value is strong, but when you also look at it through the positional lens, it gets much worse. The following players have all missed time for the Cowboys this season, forcing practice squad players to step up and play starter’s roles:
- Dak Prescott (QB1)
- Tyler Guyton (LT1)
- Tyler Smith (LG1)
- Cooper Beebe (C1)
- Zack Martin (RG1)
- Brandin Cooks (WR2)
- Micah Parsons (DE1)
- DeMarcus Lawrence (DE2)
- Sam Williams (DE3)
- Marshawn Kneeland (DE4)
- Eric Kenricks (LB1)
- DeMarvion Overshown (LB2)
- Trevon Diggs (CB1)
- DaRon Bland (CB2)
- Caelen Carson (CB4)
That list has taken up my entire screen as I type it. Do you see now how adding their positions brings it more into perspective? QB1 not being here is the worst of them, and is usually the nail in the coffin for all teams. Every member of the offensive line except for RT Terence Steele has missed time.
The top four defensive ends have all missed time at once, which is what prompted the signings of Carl Lawson and the elevation of Tyrus Wheat from the practice squad. Their top two linebackers have missed time, and Overshown is on Injured Reserve. Three of their top four cornerbacks have also missed time. Which brings us to the topic of today’s article.
Trevon Diggs has been sent to Injured Reserve with season-ending knee surgery to be performed by team surgeon Dan Cooper. That’s yet another All-Pro that will miss the entire season for the Cowboys.
What Does This Mean For Trevon Diggs?
First of all, let me express how devastated I am for Trevon. He was just starting to get back into the groove and looking like the Diggs we knew before his knee injury. There have not yet been details released on the specifics of his knee injury, but we do know that it’s not his ACL, yet it is significant.
Diggs will again have to go through the intense rehabilitation of his knee that caused him to miss nearly the entirety of the 2023 season. He was injured in practice during week 3. A deflated Cowboys team then went into Arizona and suffered a shocking upset.
He has a long road ahead of him, but luckily, his brother Stefon Diggs will be going through the same rehabilitation for a knee injury of his own. They can be there for one another, and help each other through their battles.
What Does This Mean For the Cowboys?
Well, it sucks. For us fans, anyway. Our hopes of seeing Diggs and Bland wreak havoc on opposite sidelines of each other keep getting dashed by injuries. They have played several games together while Bland was in the slot, but not since he has emerged as one of the best boundary cornerbacks in the NFL.
The cornerback room is further depleted, and it will be interesting to see who starts on the boundary the rest of the season. Does DC Mike Zimmer already have someone in mind, or does he plan on using the final four games to switch players around and see what works best?
I’m banking on the first option because Zimmer (and most of the coaching staff) is on a one-year deal, and development for 2025 means nothing to him. Personally, I hope to see more of Israel Mukuamu. He showed us something in the 2022 playoffs when he was forced to step in, but disappeared in the past couple of seasons.
Whoever lines up opposite Bland, it likely won’t matter in a lost season.
Will the Cowboys pay Micah Parsons, or trade him?
In 2024, Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons waited patiently while the team dragged its feet on paying receiver CeeDee Lamb and quarterback Dak Prescott. In 2025, Parsons is up for a new deal.
Some think the Cowboys should consider trading him, in lieu of paying him. (Rodney Harrison recently made that case on PFT Live.) In recent comments to NFL.com, Cowboys executive Stephen Jones tiptoed around the possibility of a Parsons trade.
“Obviously we’re totally all in on Dak and CeeDee,” Jones told the league’s in-house media outlet, “but after that, then you still shape things, including Micah. But Micah’s a great player. You don’t do well in this league letting guys like Micah, usually, leave the house.”
Throwing in the word “usually” is just enough to make folks wonder whether the Cowboys might do the unusual.
“We love Micah,” Jones said. “I can’t imagine there’s a scenario where he’s not wearing a star on his helmet.”
Jones’s comments came days after Parsons handed the team plenty of leverage during an interview with ESPN.
“At the end of the day whatever it takes for me just to continue to be a Cowboy until I retire, that’s what I want,” Parsons said.
He later said this: “I would rather just be in the best situation, you know? At that point, I don’t think there’s a big difference between $30 million and $40 million in my eyes, you know? And that’s just me talking.”
But he’s also the one who will be signing the contract. So his words are more important than anyone’s.
The Cowboys surely don’t want to trade Micah. But if he doesn’t want to be traded even more than they don’t want to trade him, advantage Cowboys.
The Cowboys try to get players to take less to stay in Dallas. They throw an arm around their shoulders and talk about how having a star on the helmet unlocks millions in off-field earning potential, now and in the future. Look at the broadcasting industry. Tony Romo, Troy Aikman, Jason Witten, Jason Garrett. All former Cowboys. All landed prominent spots in the media.
Parsons has made it clear he wants to stay. Which means that, if he pushes for too much, maybe he doesn’t get what he wants. Maybe they trade him.
Remember, most non-quarterbacks have only one major renegotiation in their careers. Teams do them all the time. With the Cowboys being consistently squeezed in contract negotiations dating all the way back to Ezekiel Elliott, Parsons has given them a chance to squeeze back.
It’s simple.
“If that’s how much you want, our only choice is to trade you.”
“Don’t trade me! I’ll take what you’ve offered!”
