The Green Bay Packers have nothing to play for in Week 18 as their latest loss to Baltimore locked them into the No. 7 seed in the NFC. However, they're certainly trying to get their roster ready for the postseason already, including signing Cowboys castoff Trevon Diggs on New Year's Eve, just days after Dallas cut him.
On one hand, you can understand why the Packers swiftly landed Diggs. Not only was Diggs formerly an All-Pro, but Green Bay has been devastated at corner down the home stretch. Beyond that, the defense's one performance since losing Micah Parsons to a torn ACL was miles and miles away from being inspiring, so any help was likely welcome. The problem is that the help Diggs can provide at this point isn't anything close to what the Packers need in order to make meaningful change.
Trevon Diggs isn't the player he once was
Early in his career in Dallas, Diggs looked like he could be one of the biggest draft steals of this decade right off the bat. He came up with three interceptions and 14 pass defenses as a rookie in only 12 games. He followed that up with his masterpiece, a First-Team All-Pro season with 11 interceptions, 21 pass defenses and even two pick-sixes. While it wasn't an 11-pick season, his 2022 campaign in year three was still quite good.
The script has flipped for Diggs since then, however, as injuries have not only forced him to miss 29 games of a possible 51 over the past three seasons, but have made him a substantially worse player when he's been able to get on the field. Cowboys fans have seen it time and again, but the numbers bare it out as well.
Most damningly this season when it comes to Diggs, he's been barbecue chicken on the outside in coverage when he's been targeted. For the season, per Ian Hartitz of Fantasy Life, Diggs has been targeted 20 times. The corner has allowed 16 catches for 286 yards and three touchdowns on such plays, which is good for a 158.3 passer rating.
That's a perfect passer rating, in case you weren't aware.
So yes, the Packers had a dire need at cornerback, a former All-Pro became available, and Green Bay jumped at the opportunity. I'm not faulting the process there, especially since there's no guaranteed money in such a deal to Diggs, which makes it all upside, really. At the same time, the one big negative of the deal itself — regardless of whether it works out for Diggs and Green Bay — is the fact that every playoff opponent now knows just how desperate the Packers are.
Packers' playoff foes have to see the desperation
To be clear, this isn't entirely the Packers' fault. What were they supposed to do — sit there with a depleted cornerback room and act like everything's fine while not addressing depth concerns, not to mention taking swings at quality? Of course not.
At the same time, this is a team that will be on the road in a playoff game next weekend. The fact that Diggs isn't just an offseason flier or something of that sort, but is an actual meaningful depth addition for the Green Bay secondary is certainly problematic.
That doesn't mean opponents are going to attempt to injure Packers corners, of course. What it does mean, however, is that smart offensive coordinators are going to look for ways to poke and prod that lack of depth. Whether you're talking about running with more tempo to allow for fewer substitutions, going with more 11 personnel, four-receiver or even empty sets, or simply just attacking some of the depth that's being forced into action for the likes of Nate Hobbs, among others.
What's more concerning with that is the aforementioned Parsons injury. Granted, it was a game against a desperate Ravens team fighting to stay alive in the postseason race, but the Packers defensive front was highly ineffective against Baltimore in a way that made the star edge rusher's absence quite obvious. That means more time for opposing QBs to throw, which puts even more pressure on this thin cornerback room.
Again, it can't be said enough that the Packers making this move was the right move, and one that they probably should've made. However, that can be true while also highlighting that it does expose a big weakness that Jeff Hafley and the Green Bay defense are facing internally entering the playoffs.