Cowboys fans are furious after Texans acquire Stefon Diggs in blockbuster trade

2023 NFL Pro Bowl Games
2023 NFL Pro Bowl Games / Jeff Bottari/GettyImages
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The Dallas Cowboys didn't spend anything in free agency, but fans held out hope that they'd revisit the trade market. Last March, the Cowboys acquired cornerback Stephon Gilmore and wideout Brandin Cooks for minimal draft capital.

Teams are always looking to move off veterans on expiring contracts. That is right up the wheelhouse of cheap owner Jerry Jones.

Cowboys fans have long campaigned for a Stefon Diggs trade to reunite star cornerback Trevon Diggs with his older brother. The longtime Bills receiver has dropped cryptic posts on social media almost daily since the season ended, seemingly hinting that a trade was on the horizon.

That predictably wasn't enough to incentivize the Cowboys, however, as Diggs was traded to the darling Texans on Wednesday. All it took was a 2025 second-round pick, which actually belongs to the Vikings, and Houston even managed to net a 2025 fifth-round pick and 2024 sixth-rounder in the deal.

Cowboys blow another opportunity as Stefon Diggs is traded to the Texans

The crazy part is Diggs seemingly knew about the trade on Tuesday. Diggs replied to a Bills fan on social media who emphatically claimed that the WR isn't essential to quarterback Josh Allen's success. Diggs essentially called his shot and posed a simple question to the fan.

Yup, Diggs absolutely knew a trade was going down. For the Cowboys, most fans will consider this another missed opportunity. Trevon Diggs has openly recruited Diggs to Dallas and even called on Cowboys Nation to get the idea trending.

In the Cowboys' defense (you won't hear that often), acquiring Diggs would have complicated the salary cap. CeeDee Lamb will command up to $30 million per year in his forthcoming extension and Dak Prescott and Micah Parsons will get top-of-the-market contracts before long. Not to mention, Trevon Diggs lucrative extension kicks in this year.

There's only so many pricey contracts a team can pay and the Texans have the luxury of having quarterback C.J. Stroud on a rookie deal. They can afford to spend money willy nilly. However, it says a lot a team that won three games in 2022 and a combined 11 games from 2020-22 is already going all-in.

Suffice it to say Cowboys fans are not happy that Houston is going for it.

Cap constraints aside, the Cowboys could have made the money work if they wanted to. Maybe they're scheming to draft a WR early in the 2024 draft like LSU star Brian Thomas Jr., but it's easy to understand why fans are so frustrated with Jerry and Stephen Jones.

The in-state Texans are giving Dallas a masterclass on what it actually means to be "all-in." The Cowboys might still be America's Team in terms of fandom and popularity but Houston might be the team to beat in Texas now.

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