Getty Quandre Diggs picks off a pass in his Seattle debut.
The Detroit Lions dealt away Quandre Diggs to the Seattle Seahawks a few weeks ago, and while it took Diggs some time to get on the field, he quickly made an impact when he did.
On Monday Night Football, Diggs picked off a pass and looked like he fit seamlessly within Seattle’s defense. That led Ted Nguyen to proclaim on Twitter that he was stunned the Seahawks were able to acquire him from Detroit for mere peanuts. Here’s a look at what he said:
Quandre Diggs is really good. The Lions let this guy go for peanuts?
Amazing what a rangy safety could do for a single-high defense.
Peanuts, in this case, ended up being a fifth round pick in the 2019 draft. Still, with depth now thin at safety for Detroit, it looks more than a bit curious that the Lions would deal Diggs, especially given his fit with the Seattle team looking so perfect.
There is simply no doubting Diggs’ importance to the team as a whole during his time on the roster. As a sixth round pick out of Texas, he made the Lions and has become one of the biggest values in football thanks to his impressive versatility. Not only can Diggs play his now natural position of safety, he played cornerback to start his career as well, making him the type of hybrid player the Lions love to feature.
Sa far in his career, Diggs totaled 225 tackles and 6 interceptions coming into this season, and became a leader in the Detroit backfield thanks to the passion with which he plays and the leadership he shows. There’s no question the Lions missed Diggs when he was injured early in this season, no matter how well they may have held things together in his extended absence.
Diggs is also a leader, and was one of the most well liked players on the entire Detroit roster. It only makes the deal more confusing for plenty of Lions fans when you combine that with his hot start with the Seahawks.
Quandre Diggs Explains Trade
Diggs himself has a theory of why the Lions traded him, and he believes it has everything to do with who he is. As he explained to Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press, when Diggs was dealt to the Seattle Seahawks, he believes it had plenty to do with personality, and what he deems as an issue of power and control for the franchise.
Here’s a look at what Diggs said to Birkett about his take on the move a few weeks later:
“There wasn’t one incident that precipitated his trade to the Seattle Seahawks, but former Detroit Lions safety Quandre Diggs said his strong personality is ultimately what led the Lions to ship him out of town.
“I think it was more of just a control thing,” Diggs told the Free Press in a phone interview Thursday to promote Call of Duty: Modern Warfare’s recent launch. “Them wanting to control the locker room. Control the locker room, control voices in the locker room.”
Diggs said Thursday he holds “no ill will” towards the franchise for the trade, and he expressed love for his former teammates, the city, Lions owner Martha Ford and the team brass that brought him to Detroit, former general manager Martin Mayhew, president Tom Lewand and coach Jim Caldwell.
Asked about his relationship with current Lions coach Matt Patricia and general manager Bob Quinn, Diggs said, “It is what it is.”
That sounds like a very icy exit from the team. It’s fair to remember as pointed out that Diggs was a holdover from the previous regime, with former general manager Martin Mayhew drafting him and Jim Caldwell coaching him through his first few years in the league.
Change is going to happen in terms of fan favorites being moved when new coaching staffs take over with a different plan, but the move to deal Diggs seemed odd given his status as a team captain as well as a player the Lions had recently given a contract extension.
Whatever the reason, Diggs has now had his chance to show up on the field and prove how good he is. So far, that’s a test he’s passed in order to perhaps make the Lions trade look a bit worse.
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