The New England Patriots are finally getting serious about their problems at wide receiver, but there’s a catch.
It involves All-Pro Stefon Diggs, a longtime Patriots tormentor from his days with AFC East rivals the Buffalo Bills. Diggs is “in Foxboro to meet with the New England Patriots, according to a source,” per Chad Graff of The Athletic.
Graff correctly pointed out how “the Patriots badly need WR help and Diggs could provide that even if he may not be ready Week 1 as he recovers from an ACL tear.”
Signing arguably the best wideout left in 2025 NFL free agency might be worth the risk given Diggs’ pedigree. His track record includes burning the Patriots for 61 catches, 779 yards and 10 touchdowns in 10 games, according to StatMuse.
Diggs fits the profile of what the Patriots need, but the risk is obvious when a pedestrian passing game and budding star quarterback Drake Maye require more immediate help.
Stefon Diggs Still Has Qualities Patriots Need
His time with the Houston Texans was wrecked by injury, but Diggs remains a legitimate playmaker on the perimeter. His speed outside the numbers would transform a mediocre Patriots air attack unable to stretch the field consistently in recent years.
Maye’s presence gives New England the necessary arm talent to take the top off of defenses on a regular basis. What he needs is a dynamic, go-to target.
Diggs qualifies based on what he was doing before injury struck. Specifically, the 31-year-old “averaged 62.0 yards per game last season. The Patriots haven’t had a receiver average over 60 yards per games since Julian Edelman in 2019,” per MassLive.com’s Mark Daniels.
If there are concerns about Diggs slowing down, the Patriots should remember he’s averaged 8.3 yards before catch per reception across his career, according to Pro Football Reference. He also has another quality Maye will need to help refine his core game.
What Diggs doest best is beat zone coverage. The four-time Pro Bowler had a 61.4 percent win rate against zone through eight games last season, per Player Profiler.
One of his best games wrecking zone came at the expense of the Patriots in Week 6, when Diggs feasted against “off and zone coverage,” even at the expense of All-Pro cornerback Christian Gonzalez, per Taylor Kyles of Patriots on CLNS Media.
Maye needs a receiver capable of getting open this way. The young signal-caller is never afraid to chance his arm, but his gung-ho instincts will need to be reined in for better efficiency.
Having a zone-beater like Diggs to aim for would give Maye easier reads and quicker throws. It would also finally address a longstanding and glaring weakness for the Patriots.
Patriots Delaying WR Help
It’s taking an age for the Pats to recruit a top-tier wide receiver, and the delay risks failing Maye’s development. Explaining what’s taking so long isn’t easy when the Patriots are hardly short of options.
They’ve made calls about trading for a favorite of new head coach Mike Vrabel, but so far there’s still been a lack of activity. Beyond signing another former Bills wideout.
That signing hasn’t changed the over-arching problem. Namely, the lack of a bluechip wide receiver capable of running coverage deep and scaring defenses.
Being without one of those for so long would make a fully healthy Diggs worth the wait.
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Patriots Host Rival All-Pro WR, Despite Obvious Risk