Getty Bills wide receiver Stefon Diggs at Gillette Stadium on October 22, 2023.
Buffalo Bills general manager Brandon Beane knew the team was going to face a difficult decision on Stefon Diggs sooner or later — so he decided on sooner.
Beane spoke out about the team’s decision to trade Diggs to the Houston Texans, a move that took many by surprise. The Bills general manager explained that there were a number of factors in the decision, but it ultimately came down to the salary cap implications.
“A player of his caliber, you weigh a lot of things in those situations,” Beane said in an appearance on The Athletic Football Show. “But ultimately, we just talked about the cap. I don’t need to go through all the reasons why we decided to go ahead and do that. I would say, from a cap standpoint, we decided just to go ahead and eat it now.”
Bills Take Cap Hit for 2024
The Bills took a $31 million dead-cap hit by trading Diggs and lost close to $4 million in cap space for 2023, Cody Benjamin of CBS Sports noted. But the team also freed up close to $19 million for 2025 and added more talent in an effort to fill some of the void left by Diggs’ departure.
“We think we can compete and do what we need to do by eating it now,” Beane said. “And not next year. Because if we didn’t, if we tried to come up with some way to split it up too many different ways, then now it’s just like that albatross hanging on your neck all year. You look at your cap and you’re going, Look how much money we still have dead.”
Bills GM Brandon Beane says that the main reason they traded Stefon Diggs was to clear his ‘albatross’ contract:
“Ultimately, we just talked about the (salary) cap… I don’t need to go through all the reasons why we decided to go ahead and do that….it’s just like that…
The team drafted wide receiver Keon Coleman with their top pick and brought in veteran free agents in Chase Claypool, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, and Curtis Samuel. Beane noted that instead of relying heavily on Diggs, the Bills will be able to spread out the targets more in the coming season.
“Our receiver room right now is like Baskin-Robbins,” Beane said. “We got a lot of flavors.”
Bills Look to Rookie Receiver to Boost Offense
The Bills seem to have high hopes for Coleman, the No. 33 overall pick in the draft. Quarterback Josh Allen said he can bring an element the team has been lacking, a big and physical receiver who can win contested balls.
“I think his play style (is) what we needed in our offense,” Allen said, via Bleacher Report. “Talking with our offensive coordinator (Joe Brady), our quarterbacks coach (Ronald Curry), (general manager) Brandon Beane and, obviously, coach (Sean) McDermott, a guy that’s a big-bodied guy and can go win one a back-shoulder fade and not afraid to be a physical wide receiver.”
Allen added that he’s impressed by the totality of the team’s pass-catchers.
“I think you pair him with some of the guys we have in our room right now, I think Mack Hollins has been such a great addition so far to that room with his mentality, his mindset is infectious to others,” Allen said. “Curtis Samuel, he’s been showing up every single day ready to work. … You start pairing those guys up with Dawson (Knox) and Coleman in this mix now, we’re gonna have a pretty solid group that works together.”