Getty Quandre Diggs celebrates a play in 2017.
Quandre Diggs was shipped away from the Detroit Lions a few weeks back, and while the team has moved on without him, still folks wonder why the deal was made in the first place.
Diggs himself has a theory, 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 sound off and explain why he feels he was moved.
Matt Patricia Explains Trade
Patricia offered a little bit more on the trade when he spoke with the media in the days after the move was made, saying that it was far from an easy decision to deal Diggs, no matter how it may have looked on the surface.
“Certainly those decisions are very difficult. They’re not taken lightly. They’re things we try to do to help the team get better in the long run for us. Certainly a situation where we think moving forward we think we have some players that can still help us, even if we have to make a move like we did yesterday,” he said to the media.
As for Diggs himself, Patricia admitted he wished him well in the future and understood what me meant to the squad and certainly the fans.
“Certainly Diggs has been a part of our team for a while. Great person and all that. Wish him the best of luck, but in the end, just trying to help our team as best we can going forward.”
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Quandre Diggs’ Future
The bottom line? No matter what played out behind the scenes, the Lions and Diggs will each get a chance to move on. Detroit already has by inserting Will Harris into the lineup and using more of Miles Killebrew at safety. They’ve also got Tracy Walker to continue to develop at the spot.
For Diggs, he gets to go to Seattle, a place he feels more embraced. Though he has missed the first few weeks with the hamstring injury which cost him time prior to his exit from the Lions, he could get on the field with the Seahawks soon, and will get to compete with a team that’s chasing a playoff birth down the stretch.
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