Cowboys cornerback Trevon Diggs puts his chances at playing Thursday at 75-80 percent after a full practice Monday.
“I did everything today. I did a lot of scout team reps, too,” Diggs said, via Todd Archer of ESPN. “I was getting both. And I’m getting more conditioning. I feel good, so Thursday may be looking good.”
Diggs returned to full participation in practice last Monday, the first time he’s practiced or played with teammates since Dec. 9, which his final game of the 2024 season.
The two-time Pro Bowler tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee during a Week 3 practice in 2023, ending his season. In 2024, it was an injury to the same knee that ended his season after 11 games.
Diggs’ 2025 season was in doubt when he underwent chondral bone graft surgery on his left knee Jan. 23. The surgery transplants pieces of bone tissue into the joint to stimulate growth.
But he’s come back quicker than expected.
Defensive tackle Perrion Winfrey (back) was the only player who didn’t practice for the Cowboys on Monday.
Left tackle Tyler Guyton (knee) and tight end Brevyn Spann-Ford (ankle) were full participants.
The first Eagles injury report of the 2025 regular season shows that they were short two players in Monday’s workout.
Left guard Landon Dickerson and quarterback Tanner McKee did not participate in practice.
Dickerson had surgery on his knee in August and returned to practice last week, but his absence on Monday due to a back issue creates doubt about his availability against the Cowboys on Thursday. Brett Toth worked in his place with the first team on Monday.
McKee has an injured right thumb and the Eagles traded for Sam Howell before final cuts to give themselves more depth at quarterback behind Jalen Hurts. Sixth-round pick Kyle McCord could also be called up from the practice squad if McKee isn’t going to play.
Safety Andrew Mukuba (hamstring) and linebacker Josh Uche (groin) were limited in practice. Defensive tackle Jalen Carter (shoulder) was listed as a full participant while wide receiver A.J. Brown (hamstring) is not listed at all.
Micah Parsons practiced with his new teammates Monday. It was his first practice since the end of last season.
The star edge rusher reportedly has a facet joint sprain located in the L4/L5 vertebrae of his back and could require an epidural to play Sunday. Packers offensive tackle Rasheed Walker, Parsons’ college teammate, said Parsons took some 11-on-11 reps Monday but looked to be a limited participant.
“He said he was going to be more full-go Wednesday and Thursday,” Walker said, via Matt Schneidman of TheAthletic.com.
After the trade for Parsons on Thursday, Walker posted on social media that the Packers are going to win the Super Bowl.
“Oh, yeah, for sure,” Walker said Monday, via Bill Huber of SI.com. “I think it upped our chances by a lot. We got a solid pass rush across the whole line. I don’t think no one’s going to be able to throw the ball like that on us. It’s going to open up opportunities for our DBs and our offense, so, yeah, I feel like Micah’s going to have a good presence on the field and it’s going to really be advantageous to us.”
The Packers defensive players expect their unit to benefit greatly from Parsons’ presence after he averaged 13 sacks in his four seasons in Dallas. Linebacker Edgerrin Cooper said Parsons is going to give opposing offenses “nightmares.”
“It’s scary. It’s for sure scary with the pieces that we have,” defensive end Rashan Gary added. ‘The guys that we have, especially with the mindsets we all have. Especially talking to him today, we’re kind of similar persons in terms of mindset. So, it’s going to be scary for teams, for sure.”
Brian Schottenheimer intended to have only four captains, but the players talked him into six.
Teammates voted Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb offensive captains, joined by Osa Odighizuwa and Donovan Wilson as the defensive captains. Brandon Aubrey and C.J. Goodwin will serve as the special teams captains.
“You look at those guys and their leadership comes in all different forms,” Schottenheimer said, via Nick Eatman of the team website. “That’s what I like about [this group]. I was blown away. The guys made it very clear, ‘Hey Schotty, four is not enough.’ The way the voting came in, it was really close. It’ll be cool for those guys to have the ‘C’ on their jersey.”
The Cowboys also will have a “captain of the week” beginning in Week 2.
The past five seasons the Cowboys did not have permanent captains. Instead, they named captains on a weekly basis.
As was often the case when former Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons was hurrying quarterbacks into making ill-advised throws, Cowboys cornerback DaRon Bland was in the right place at the right time.
On Sunday, Bland got a new contract that was quite possibly fueled by a desire from Cowboys owner and G.M. Jerry Jones to prove that, no, he doesn’t always drag his feet when it comes to paying the players who deserve new contracts.
But, as usual, the initial reports regarding the value of the deal contained more than a patina of bovine excrement; the base numbers were inflated by $2 million.
Here are the full and accurate details, per a source with knowledge of the terms:
1. Signing bonus: $22 million. (He’ll get $11 million within 15 days and the rest will be prorated and paid out with his 2025 base salary.)
2. 2025 base salary: $1.346 million, fully guaranteed.
3. 2026 base salary: $12 million, fully guaranteed — with a $500,000 workout de-escalator.
4. 2026 per-game active roster bonus: $1 million total, fully guaranteed (but must be earned).
5. 2027 base salary: $12 million, guaranteed for injury at signing and fully guaranteed by 2027 — with a $500,000 workout de-escalator.
6. 2027 per-game active roster bonus: $1 million total, guaranteed for injury at signing and fully guaranteed by 2027 (but must be earned).
7. 2028 option bonus: $19 million.
8. 2028 base salary: $2 million — with a $500,000 workout de-escalator.
9. 2028 per-game active roster bonus: $1 million total.
10. 2029 option bonus: $21 million.
11. 2029 base salary: $2 million — with a $500,000 workout de-escalator.
9. 2029 per-game active roster bonus: $1 million total.
The deal includes annual escalators of $500,000 from 2026 through 2029. Bland gets $250,000 if he has five interceptions and the team makes the playoffs in the prior year. He gets the full $500,000 if he has seven interceptions and the team makes the playoffs in the prior year.
So it’s not a four-year, $92 million deal. It’s a four-year, $90 million deal, with $2 million in available escalators. (And $4 million is tied to being able to suit up and play in every game from 2026 through 2029.)
Of the total amount, $36.346 million is fully guaranteed at signing. Another $13 million becomes fully guaranteed in 2027.
As a practical matter, it’s a two-year deal with a year-to-year team-held option thereafter.
Finally, like so many other Dallas contracts, the team has used salary de-escalators in lieu of workout bonuses. Which means that, if Bland doesn’t show up for the minimum required offseason workouts the team can, and surely will, cut his pay by a half million bucks.
