Getty The New England Patriots drafted a player already compared to All-Pro Stefon Diggs.
The Buffalo Bills could face a big decision on Stefon Diggs this offseason, and one insider predicts the wide receiver won’t be happy with the move the team will need to make.
After starting out the 2023 season on pace for one of the best seasons of his career, Diggs hit the wall a little beyond the midway point. Over the final seven games of the season including two playoff games, Diggs averaged just 41 yards per game and didn’t find the endzone once, the longest stretch of his career without a touchdown.
Peter King of Pro Football Talk predicted that the Bills may need to seek some salary relief from the All-Pro receiver this offseason, which may not be a popular move.
Bills Need ‘Major Surgery’ on Stefon Diggs’ Contract
King predicted that Bills general manager Brandon Beane had some big financial decisions this offseason as the team faces a salary cap crunch, and “maybe none bigger than what to do with Stefon Diggs.”
“Diggs is 30. He’s due for a cap number of $27.9 million next year, which, for a player who didn’t have a 100-yard receiving day in the Bills’ last 13 games, is quite excessive,” King wrote. “In fact, in the last 10 weeks of the season, Khalil Shakir had more receiving yards and touchdowns than Diggs—and it was Shakir who Josh Allen targeted on the biggest play of the season, Allen’s overthrow of him in the end zone near the end of the Kansas City playoff game.”
King added that the Bills may need to seek some kind of salary restructure from Diggs.
“I expect the Bills to want to do major surgery on Diggs’ deal, and I expect Diggs to not be happy about it,” he wrote.
The Bills have sought salary cap relief from players in recent years. Last offseason, NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo reported that the team restructured the contract of running back Nyheim Hines to convert some of his base salary to a signing bonus. This game Hines a pay cut with the ability to earn some back through incentives, though he ended up missing the season after being injured in a jet-ski accident just before training camp started.
Bills Remain Committed to Stefon Diggs
The Bills stood by Diggs through his slump, with Beane said after the team’s playoff loss to the Kansas City Chiefs that they still see him as the team’s No. 1 receiver for 2024.
“Stef’s, he’s a No. 1 receiver. I firmly believe that, not wavering off of that,” Beane said, via ESPN. “… Listen, we have to continue to put weapons out there to keep teams from bracketing him or, you know, locking him down in different ways to take him away. They know you are going to want him. Stef can still play, I’m sure he would love to have that deep ball again, he’d be the first to tell you. He’s super competitive, he’s going to work his tail off this offseason. I know there’s various reasons or questions on this or his production, all that, but I still see Stef as a No. 1 receiver.”