Back in 2021, the Green Bay Packers took a low-risk flier on Rasul Douglas, signing him off the Arizona Cardinals’ practice squad. What followed was one of the more unexpected defensive boosts of that season. Douglas quickly became a difference-maker, finishing the year with 57 combined tackles and five interceptions. Fast forward to now, and Matt LaFleur’s Packers are once again dipping into familiar territory.

This time, Green Bay has claimed Trevon Diggs just ahead of the playoff opener after the Dallas Cowboys moved on from him. Naturally, the comparison pops up. Can Diggs be this year’s version of Douglas? It’s far too early to make that call. But based on what LaFleur saw in Diggs’ Packers debut against the Minnesota Vikings, the head coach isn’t shying away from the idea that Diggs can help.

“Yeah, absolutely,” the head coach said when asked if Diggs can help the Packers in the postseason. “You have no idea of how it’s going until you look at the tape. Certainly, I think it was good for him to just hear some of the calls, get acclimated with our defense, and then I think we can build on that going into this week.”

Green Bay was the lone team to put in a waiver claim after Dallas let Diggs go, following what turned into a disappointing season for the corner. And while it was just one game, LaFleur came away encouraged. The Packers fell 16–3 to Minnesota in the regular-season finale, a game in which several starters sat with the playoff spot already locked up. The result didn’t matter much. But Diggs’ debut did.

In limited action, he delivered. Diggs earned Green Bay’s highest PFF coverage grade, allowing just one catch for two yards and a passer rating of 56.3. He also finished with the team’s fifth-best PFF tackling grade, recording two tackles, including a stop, without a single miss. It’s a small sample size, but it’s hard to ignore how clean it looked.

Diggs logged only 18 coverage snaps, so context matters. Still, for a defense that suddenly finds itself thin at cornerback, the timing couldn’t be better. Green Bay lost Nate Hobbs and Kamal Hadden to injuries in Week 17 against the Baltimore Ravens, leaving the secondary scrambling for stability. However, Trevon Diggs is still learning the system, and LaFleur stopped short of committing to him as a starter in the playoff opener.

The adjustment period is real, even if the early signs are promising. One thing working in Diggs’ favor is familiarity. Former Cowboys teammate Micah Parsons is already in Green Bay, and Diggs leaned on that connection while settling in.

“He told me, you know, it’s work,” Diggs said of Parsons. “It’s a lot different. He said I’m going to like it a lot and I’m going to enjoy it. So far, I’ve been enjoying it a lot. My first day was out there today, and I had a lot of fun. And it’s a great, great thing to be here.”

So while LaFleur isn’t ready to announce Diggs as a playoff starter just yet, one thing is clear: after a debut like that, the Packers believe they’ve found someone who can help.

Matt LaFleur addresses whether Trevon Diggs could start in the playoffs

Right after the Cowboys released Trevon Diggs, the cornerback picked up the phone and called NFL Network’s Jane Slater. His message was simple: he wanted to join a team that still needed one more piece for a postseason run. That team turned out to be the Packers. And Diggs wasted little time making an impression in his Green Bay debut.

Which naturally leads to the big question now: Will the Packers start him in the wild-card round next week? When Matt LaFleur was asked about that possibility, the head coach didn’t exactly shut it down. But he didn’t confirm it either.

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“No, I wouldn’t say that,” LaFleur said when asked if Diggs can start in the playoffs. “I think everything is up for discussion.”

So while Diggs’ status for the wild-card round remains unclear, Sunday’s game did offer some insight into Green Bay’s thinking. With Hobbs and Hadden now on injured reserve, the earliest either could return would be the Super Bowl, should the Packers make it that far.

Green Bay didn’t play Carrington Valentine at all in a game that had no impact on the standings, treating him like other locked-in starters. Keisean Nixon barely saw the field as well, logging just five snaps. All signs pointed toward the Packers riding with the Valentine–Nixon combination once the playoffs begin.

But after the loss to the Vikings, LaFleur made it clear that Diggs hasn’t been ruled out of that picture. He may not have been named the starter, but the door is clearly still open. In short, Green Bay isn’t locked into one plan yet. They’re weighing their options at cornerback. And Diggs is very much part of that conversation.