The Green Bay Packers looked like they'd be using their signing of cornerback Benjamin St-Juste to a two-year, $10.5 million contract to let Trevon Diggs go by this wayside this offseason. With St-Juste's deal being cheaper than Spotrac's $7.5 million projection for Diggs, it sounded like a return was off the table.
Then, Tuesday morning, Diggs' outlook changed.
"The Packers are releasing CB Nate Hobbs and a source said they're doing it with a post-June 1 designation," ESPN's Rob Demovsky reported. "The post-June 1 designation means the Packers will get back $8.838 million in salary cap space. A regular release would only net them $838K on this year's cap."
Nate Hobbs got the axe for Green Bay to avoid a $6.25 million roster bonus, and now $8.8 million in cap space was created for the move. That money is obviously seen as better spent elsewhere. Some of it, however, may be worth reinvesting back into the corner spot, potentially opening the door for Diggs to roll the dice on a Titletown run again.
Door Is Suddenly Open for Trevon Diggs to Rejoin Packers
With Hobbs out the door, just one year after signing a four-year, $48 million contract, there's an obvious opening for Diggs to return to the team. Though he was released in January, the familiarity with the franchise could keep him in the fold, even with a new defensive coordinator.
Diggs' Packers release in January wasn't the result of a several-year-long issue, like what happened with the Dallas Cowboys in December. It was merely Green Bay's way of avoiding a $15 million payout to a player who won't fetch nearly that much average annual value on the open market.
Give him a third of that price tag, or less, and Diggs is all of a sudden a sensible reunion — especially if he can return to his All-Pro form. This is where things get tricky, though.
One would think new defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon would want to clean the slate wherever he could. One would also think he'd want to bring players he's familiar with from his time with the Arizona Cardinals and Philadelphia Eagles.
Will Gannon want to bring back such a controversial figure? Especially when you can make the obvious case that the team was 0-2 against NFC North teams, albeit one of those games was when the team was not overly concerned with winning.
It's also worth noting that former Packers passing game coordinator Derek Ansley, who knew Diggs from his time in Alabama, is no longer with Green Bay after joining the Dallas Cowboys' staff this offseason. That's one less person to vouch for him.
Gannon, head coach Matt LaFleur, and general manager Brian Gutekunst could do worse on a short-term "prove-it" contract that'd mitigate losses if he didn't survive training camp than Diggs. The problem is, they can probably do better, too.
It'll be interesting to see if Diggs does end up becoming a Packer again. While there is an argument against the idea, the pros could outweigh the cons, especially if Green Bay thinks a full offseason with the team will help.