The Green Bay Packers won’t risk injuries to several of their top players in a mostly meaningless Week 18 matchup with the Minnesota Vikings, but there will be at least one notable exception.
Jeremy Fowler of ESPN reported on Sunday morning, January 4 that new Packers cornerback Trevon Diggs is going to suit up and play against the Vikings in what will be his first-ever game in a Green Bay uniform.
“The Packers (locked into the 7 seed) will rest a significant number of key players today, but newly acquired corner Trevon Diggs will make his Green Bay debut vs. Vikings,” Fowler posted to X. “He will see some action.”
Trevon Diggs Auditioning for Longterm Role With Packers
GettyPass-rusher Micah Parsons of the Green Bay Packers (right) and cornerback Trevon Diggs, formerly of the Dallas Cowboys (left).
Diggs is a two-time Pro Bowler (2021, 2022) who inked a five-year extension worth $97 million with the Dallas Cowboys in July 2023.
However, with no guaranteed money remaining on that deal behind the 2025 campaign, the Cowboys made a surprising move and released Diggs ahead of Week 18. The Packers, who will be without cornerback Nate Hobbs for the rest of the year due to injury, swooped in and claimed Diggs off the waiver wire.
Diggs has dealt with injury issues this year and will play in just his ninth game of the season on Sunday in Minneapolis. He also missed six contests last year after playing just two games in 2023, as health issues have plagued the once-elite cornerback for the past three campaigns.
The Packers took a calculated risk in adding Diggs, picking up a $472,000 tab in the form of his final game check of the season. Green Bay will also pay out an extra $58,823 because Diggs is active in Week 18. Clearly, the team wants to get Diggs some reps in its system before throwing him into playoff action in Round 1 of the playoffs next weekend.
Green Bay will have flexibility with Diggs beyond this season, with options including renegotiating his deal, continuing to pay him on a non-guaranteed contract or cutting ties with the cornerback and letting Diggs test free agency in March.
Packers Will Play Either Bears, Eagles in Opening Round of NFC Playoffs
GettyFormer Dallas Cowboys cornerback Trevon Diggs.
The Packers will face either the Chicago Bears or Philadelphia Eagles in a road matchup over Super Wildcard Weekend depending on how those teams fare in their final games of the season.
The Bears host the Detroit Lions in Week 18 and will lock up the No. 2 seed with a victory, which would send Green Bay to Soldier Field next weekend. If Chicago loses and the Eagles best the Commanders on Sunday, the Packers will head to Philadelphia for the opening game of the postseason.
Green Bay’s defense was one of the most vaunted in the league for much of the year, but season-ending injuries to defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt and edge-rusher Micah Parsons — Diggs’ teammate for four years in Dallas — have left the Packers significantly hampered on that side of the football.
The addition of Diggs could be a big help if he can capture his pre-injury form. However, he has struggled this season, giving up a collective rating of 157.2 to opposing quarterbacks when targeted — a near perfect mark for a QB based on how the NFL calculates that statistic.
Packers Make Final Call on Trevon Diggs Ahead of Vikings Game