Getty Bills star Stefon Diggs warms up at Soldier Field on December 24, 2022.
Stefon Diggs may have had a hand in his abrupt departure from the Buffalo Bills.
The Bills traded the All-Pro wide receiver to the Houston Texans on April 3, a surprise move that came months after Bills general manager Brandon Beane insisted that Diggs would return as the team’s No. 1 receiver in 2024.
But Joe Mixon, Diggs’ new teammate on the Texans, revealed shortly after the trade that the receiver “asked” to leave the Bills.
“Stefon Diggs, just a few weeks ago you asked and we delivered,” Mixon wrote in a post on X. “Now let’s go get these rings (emoji).”
Bills GM Explains Trade
Beane spoke to reporters hours after the trade was announced on Wednesday, insisting that the Bills weren’t giving up on the season by trading Diggs. Beane shared that the team had gotten several trade inquiries on Diggs and had been talking with the Texans for a few days.
“I think with this move, as we’re talking with Houston in this case the last couple days, the value seemed to make sense and the timing made sense for them and for us, and we worked on the deal and got it finalized today,” Beane said, via NFL.com.
Stefon Diggs Instagram post following trade from #Bills
Beane hinted that there would be more work to build the roster and that the team would still be a contender by the time the season started.
“I mean, are we better today? Probably not,” Beane said. “It’s a work in progress, and we’re going to continue to work on that. I just hope people know I’m competitive as hell, and I ain’t giving in, we’re going to work through this and continue to look and I’m confident in guys on the roster, and confident in the staff we have upstairs that helps me, that we’ll continue to find pieces to add, and we’ll be ready to roll when it comes time in September.”
Though Diggs was an All-Pro and four-time Pro Bowler with the Bills, he saw a sharp drop in production down the stretch last season. Diggs went the final seven games without a touchdown, the longest scoreless streak of his career.
Insider Claims Bills Were Fed Up With Stefon Diggs
While Beane did not confirm whether Diggs asked for a trade, The Athletic’s Tim Graham claimed that the team’s patience with their star receiver had worn thin. The receiver had kicked up drama in recent years with some very public tensions with quarterback Josh Allen and cryptic social media posts, but his massive cap hit led many insiders to believe he was untradeable.
Graham wrote that the Bills may have simply had enough of the distractions from Diggs and were ready to move on.
“Many pundits and Bills fans believed Diggs’ place on the roster was pinned by a mammoth contract that, given the salary-cap implications, made it counterproductive for the team to trade or release him,” Graham wrote. “The decision by owner Terry Pegula, general manager Brandon Beane and coach Sean McDermott to make the move illustrates how motivated the club was to part with Diggs, a pivotal character in transforming NFL chumps into perennial Super Bowl contenders.”