Cowboys’ Stephen Jones On Trevon Diggs’ $500K Salary Reduction: ‘We’re Paying A Price, Too’

Dallas Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones responded to star cornerback Trevon Diggs opting to rehab away from the team’s facility this week in an appearance on 105.3 The Fan. Because Diggs rehabbed elsewhere after his offseason knee surgery, the team exercised its right to penalize him and docked his salary by $500,000 – a move that “hurt” the feelings of the star cornerback.

“He certainly paid a price for not being here,” Jones said. “But we’re paying a price, too, because we felt like he’d might be further along had he done his rehab here. He may differ with that. But had he done his rehab here, we feel strongly that he might be further along. That’s in the best interest of the team and the organization that comes with getting a big contract, which he received.”

Diggs signed a five-year, $97 million contract extension in 2023, and part of the deal included a clause stipulating that the team could dock his salary by $500,000 if he missed at least 84% of the Cowboys’ organized team activities in the spring. Diggs elected to rehab from offseason knee surgery in South Florida instead of the Cowboys’ team facility in Frisco, Texas.

Jones said the star cornerback would be “better off” rehabbing in the team facilities than elsewhere.

“I think a player is much better off training with us than he is somewhere else,” Jones said. “I just think the discipline to come in every day, do the work is there when they’re here…. One thing we can do, which is we will continue to do is put in every player’s contract, especially guys that we pay significant amounts of money, we expect leadership, and we expect them to be here. Certainly, we addressed that with Diggs.”

Diggs appeared in 11 games during the 2024 season and finished with 42 total tackles and two interceptions. The former second-round pick from the 2020 NFL Draft appeared in just two games during the 2023 campaign, two years removed from recording 11 interceptions during the 2021 season.