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The last time Josh Allen and Stefon Diggs were seen together, the Buffalo Bills were on their way to a rare home loss in the NFL playoffs and the two star players were in an even more rare and very public rift on the sidelines.
Diggs was seen growing upset with Allen during the January loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, which was just the second playoff loss at home in the team’s history. Diggs continued to speak out about the bitter end to the season on social media, even taking what many saw as a shot at Allen.
But as he returned to Buffalo for offseason workouts, Allen addressed the situation and seemed to put any rumors of a rift to bed.
Josh Allen on Stefon Diggs: ‘I Love the Guy’
Allen spoke to reporters on April 18, the day after Bills players arrived in Orchard Park for the start of offseason workouts. When asked about the social media activity from Diggs, Allen stressed that all is well between him and the team’s star receiver.
“Stef’s gonna Stef,” Allen said, via Syracuse.com. “I love the guy. He is one of my favorite people on this planet. He is so fiery, so competitive, he wants the ball in his hands 24/7 and I’m never gonna not like a guy like that. He wants what’s best for the team.”
Stefon Diggs is not happy right now.
The sideline incident from the Bengals game spilled over into further offseason drama that was exacerbated when Diggs’ younger brother, Dallas Cowboys cornerback Trevon Diggs, appeared to push for his brother to leave the Bills and join him in Dallas.
The rumors were ultimately addressed by Bills general manager Brandon Beane, who noted that the receiver has always been full of emotion when he plays.
“You guys have gotten to know him well through his three seasons here, and he’s going to wear his emotions on his sleeve,” Beane said, via the Buffalo News. “He’s not going to hide his feelings, and he wants to win. As long as that’s the goal, that it’s about winning and it’s not personal goals, and I know that with him. It’s about winning.”
Other insiders noted that it would have been nearly impossible for the Bills to trade Diggs, even if he did want out. Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio noted that trading Diggs before June 1 would trigger a cap charge for the Bills of $34.775 million — as well as trading away their best receiver.
Stefon Diggs Explained Outburst
While Allen remained largely low-key through the first part of the offseason, Diggs has spoken out about the disappointing end to the season and his outburst on the sidelines against the Bengals.
In an appearance on the Dan Patrick Show in February, Diggs said he was just frustrated to see his team struggling so much after having found ways to win all season.
“It was just disappointing,” Diggs said. “Everybody really put in the grand scheme of things of how long a year is and our year was damn sure, I mean just felt that much longer with everything we had to go through and endure. Just utter disappointment, frustrated, and it was like, well shit we did all this for this. It seemed just like a little bit not real.”
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Bills’ Josh Allen Breaks Silence on Stefon Diggs After Rumors of Rift