Getty Stefon Diggs #14 of the Buffalo Bills walks off the field at Soldier Field on December 24, 2022 in Chicago, Illinois.
Close eyes have been on the Buffalo Bills No. 1 wide receiver Stefon Diggs’ every move since his fourth-quarter outburst toward quarterback Josh Allen during the team’s 27-10 playoff loss to the Cincinnati Bengals and his dramatic early exit from the locker room after the game.
Earlier this week, Diggs caused a stir by removing all his front-facing Bills photos from Instagram, despite the fact that he regularly cleans out his page after the season ends. Around this time last year, he deleted every single photo from the social media app.
The 29-year-old kept messing with fans’ heads on Wednesday, March 8, sending out a series of cryptic messages on Twitter. “Don’t take things personal from people you don’t know personally,” Diggs tweeted, before adding, “It’s just business, don’t take it personally” and lastly, “That’s what they say at least…”
Diggs’ tweets may not even be football related, but the mere idea of losing him causes anxiety for much of Bills Mafia. One fan responded, “City of Buffalo eat, sleeps, and breaths Bills football. It’s always personal with us. Just hope you wanna be here and win a Super Bowl.. if not good luck somewhere else bro. Can’t have players here who don’t wanna be here if that is the case,” while others are over the drama. “This is getting old,” one man tweeted.
While the veteran’s younger brother, Cowboys cornerback Trevon Diggs, is publicly pushing for the Bills superstar to come to play alongside him in Dallas, his $96 million contract extension has Diggs locked in. Aside from him being Allen’s most reliable receiver, the Bills have tens of millions of reasons to keep Diggs in Buffalo.
Pro Football Talk‘s Mike Florio reported that Buffalo would get hit with a $34.775 million cap charge if they traded the Diggs before June 1. Even if Buffalo waited a bit, Cover 1 podcast hosts tweeted that cutting him after June 1 would incur a $12 million cap charge for the Bills and an additional $26 million in 2024.
Top Draft Prospect Named Diggs as a Reason They’d Love to Play for the Bills
Despite the conjecture, Diggs remains a cornerstone of the Bills’ offense and will be for years to come. During the NFL Combine, several top prospects named Diggs as an inspiration, and noted the idea of having the three-time Pro Bowler as a mentor would be a dream come true, per Bills reporter Maddy Glab, including Jordan Addison.
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The USC standout, who’s projected to be a first-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, grew up in the same hometown as Diggs and would love to be his teammate. “We played for the same Youth League team, and that was just a guy that I looked up to,” Addison said. “And watching him growing up, he went to Good Counsel, and I went to a few of them games. So just playing in that offense with him would mean a lot.”
Brandon Beane & Sean McDermott Are Not Worried About Diggs’ Future in Buffalo
GettyHead coach Sean McDermott of the Buffalo Bills stands with general manager Brandon Beane on the field before a game against the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium on September 8, 2019.
Bills’ general manager Brandon Beane and head coach Sean McDermott gave no indication there was any issue with Diggs while speaking to the media at the NFL Combine last week, per The Buffalo News.
“I love Stef,” McDermott said. “The season gets long and you’re very competitive, and then, all of a sudden, it ends and you’re emotional. So some of that comes up, but when you have time to get away a little bit and gain a little perspective on things, it’s healthy for you. I know it is for me. Stef’s a heck of a football player, and I know we’re a better team with Stef with us and we look forward to having him back here.”
Beane said, “You guys saw him upset after the Cincinnati loss… There’s a lot of emotions. So not everyone handles them in the same way, I’m not going to judge. Ultimately, Stef’s a competitor, and I’ll take competitors all day long… Now’s the best time just to, everybody, take a deep breath. It’s been a long season. Obviously, we all know we went through a lot of a lot of adversity this year. Let’s just all take a pause, take a breath. I have no doubt that at the right time, we’ll all come back and sit down and start preparing for 2023.”
Here’s Stefon Diggs bolting out of the locker room with his stuff just after yesterday’s game. He was one of several players to leave quickly.
Sean McDermott said he was in the locker room when he addressed the team and “that’s what matters most.”
While Diggs won’t apologize for being such a passionate competitor, he does regret storming out of Highmark Stadium. If he could do it all over again, “I probably wouldn’t have walked out,” Diggs said last month. “It was just a moment of frustration, so much time put in. But that’s the only thing if I could take back I would. Just because I love my guys, and I have utmost respect and appreciation for them, so I hope they understand. And they did.”