How Jaire Alexander New Packers Contract Affects Cowboys CB Trevon Diggs
The first domino of Trevon Diggs' future has fallen not in Dallas, but Green Bay.
NFL Network has reported that Jaire Alexander is set to sign a four-year extension worth $84 million. The news from Ian Rapoport claims that the deal will make Alexander the NFL's highest annually-paid cornerback. While this doesn't affect the Cowboys until their visit to Lambeau Field in November, the stage is set for negotiations on Diggs' future in Dallas.
There's little debate that Diggs' price tag will be heavy after he led the NFL in interceptions last season (11). The Alexander deal will likely add some weight, especially considering that the 2020 All-Pro's expensive re-up comes on the heels of a shoulder injury that cost him all but five games last season. Diggs is currently working through the latter half of his four-year rookie deal signed upon his arrival in 2020.
In the aftermath of Alexander's deal, the Cowboys have three possibilities: getting the deal done in the final throes of the 2023 offseason, a franchise tag in 2024 (a similar situation currently offered to tight end Dalton Schultz), or letting him hit free agency in that same year.
An extension during the 2023 offseason seems unlikely considering the Jones family's propensity to use deadlines (in this case, Week 1 of the 2023 season) to make long-term deals.
Alexander's skillset, one that relies on limits in coverage than interceptions, is similar to that of former Cowboys first-round pick Byron Jones, whose fifth-year option was exercised before Dallas let him move on the following season. Bottom line: Dallas fans better enjoy Diggs while they can. ... or the Jones family better be prepared to act.
