Getty Houston Texans wide receiver Stefon Diggs
Stefon Diggs finds himself in a pretty cushy situation with the Houston Texans. Firmly in the driver’s seat as far as his financial future in the NFL, Diggs has the motivation to ball out in 2024, with the reward being a lucrative contract in 2025 — what could be the last of his football career.
Before the start of the 2022 season, the Buffalo Bills signed their star receiver to a massive four-year, $96 million contract, which locked him in through 2027. Midway through the deal, Buffalo hit the reset button and offloaded Diggs along with several of their high-talent, high-cap players.
The decision left the Bills with a dead cap hit of $31 million and only one pick (2025 second-rounder) in return for the All-Pro.
Houston could have had Diggs, 30, rostered for the next four seasons; instead, it decided to immediately restructure his contract, wiping out the final three years of his deal and making him a free agent after the 2024 season.
Houston Texans Hope to Get the Best Version of Stefon Diggs
The Texans’ motivation behind restructuring Diggs’ deal is to get the best version of their new receiver while they can.
“I think it’s a good faith thing to say we’d love to have a longer-term relationship with you, but for right now, let’s work through this,” Monday Morning Quarterback’s Albert Breer said on the April 13 episode of The Rich Eisen Show. “I think Diggs had the motivation to maybe get one more bite of the financial apple, and this allows him to go and do that.”
“It’s going to be very difficult for the Texans to franchise him based on what that number will be in 2025, and so Stefon Diggs effectively has a freeway to free agency, which gives him great bargaining power.”
According to Over The Cap’s projections, the 2025 franchise tender for wide receivers is expected to cost $24.7 million.
“He’s 30 years old, so is the way last year ended a harbinger that things might be going in the wrong direction? It’s possible,” Breer said. “That’s what happens sometimes with older receivers, but I think it does give the Texans a chance to get a very motivated Stefon Diggs — not that he wouldn’t be otherwise because of how competitive he is.”
Texans Need to Grab Bull by the Horns With C.J. Stroud, Will Anderson Rookie Contracts
The Houston Texans know money doesn’t grow on trees, even in the NFL. Their most important player — C.J. Stroud — is in the second year of his rookie deal. Considering his fifth-year option, Stroud will be on the cheap end through 2027, as will edge rusher Will Anderson Jr., who was taken one pick after.
Eventually, the Texans will have to pay the piper. And if their first seasons are a glimpse of what’s to come, Stroud and Anderson will command big bucks.
That’s the distant future. Houston will have 44 free agents in 2025, including receiver Nico Collins. As all teams on the brink of contention, they’ll have some creative juggling to do next season.
“If you look at where the Texans are financially, too, they’re going to be looking at paying Nico Collins after this year,” Breer explained. “Then down the line budgeting for Will Anderson and C.J. Stroud, so they’re going to have some bigger numbers coming down the pike over the next few years.”
The Texans must take advantage of their young, affordable team and hope it leads them to the Promise Land before things get financially complicated.
“I view it as them sort of keeping themselves loose financially going forward where they have Stefon Diggs coming in on a one-year deal,” Breer said. “[It] doesn’t mean he won’t resign after the year,r but he’s in on a one-year deal. They have Danielle Hunter coming over from the Vikings to play opposite Will Anderson on a two-year deal. [It] very much targets the next couple of years as a time to take advantage of having C.J. Stroud on a rookie contract.”