Orchard Park, N.Y. (WGR 550/WBEN) - Over the last four seasons with the Buffalo Bills, Stefon Diggs was highly regarded as one of the best wide receivers in the National Football League, catching footballs from Josh Allen.
Since being acquired by the Bills in the 2020 offseason from the Minnesota Vikings, Diggs led all receivers in the league with 445 receptions, while also registering 5,372 yards and 37 touchdowns - both fourth-best amongst receivers.
However, all good times must come to an end sooner or later.
The Bills agreed to a trade on Wednesday to send Diggs, along with a 2024 sixth-round pick and 2025 fifth-round pick, to the Houston Texans in exchange for a second-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, originally from the Vikings.
Diggs took to Instagram late Wednesday to thank "Bills Mafia" and reflect on his time in Buffalo.
Bills general manager Brandon Beane understands the impact Diggs has had in Buffalo since he acquired him from Minnesota. However, given the team's salary cap situation and other factors, this decision to move on from the 30-year-old was not an easy one.
"Sometimes in this seat, you've got to make difficult decisions," said Beane on Wednesday during a press conference with the assembled media in Orchard Park. "What I would let everyone know is it wasn't easy, but it was with a lot of thought, discussion, conversation at the highest levels of our organization. And it was made with, what we believe, was the best interest of the Bills."
With the trade on Wednesday, the Bills will eat a little more than $31 million of dead salary cap space in 2024. However, Beane says it will help the team's cap situation a bit more beyond this upcoming season.
"I think we all know what we walked into this league year with the salary cap and where we were. While yes, we'll eat a little bit this year, it frees over $27 million off of our cap and gives us some more flexibility in the future," Beane explained.
Beane says the momentum towards a deal with the Texans picked up steam within the last week, but he had been getting calls surrounding the idea of moving Diggs from other teams long before. When it came down to it, he says the value and the timing made sense for both sides.
"The timing is the value that you're being offered for the player versus what you think is fair. You're always looking not only at this year, but you're always looking in future years as well. So you have to consider all that," Beane said.
With this move on Wednesday, Beane does not believe it's intended to be a sign of the end of this championship opportunity for the Bills.
"Everything we do, we're trying to win, and we're going to continue to do that," he said. "It's April 3, and we'll continue to work on this roster and make sure we're ready to play come September."
With Diggs no longer in the picture, the Bills will now be focused this offseason on further addressing the wide receivers room and the possibility of adding another No. 1 wide receiver to the mix. This is especially the case after the team let Gabe Davis walk this offseason in free agency, as he signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars to a three-year contract.
As it stands now, the Bills have a total of eight wide receivers under contract for the 2024 season:
- Curtis Samuel
- Khalil Shakir
- Mack Hollins
- Justin Shorter
- K.J. Hamler
- Andy Isabella
- Bryan Thompson
- Tyrell Shavers
Beane admits the roster building with this roster, especially on offense, is no where close to being over. He says his staff will look to the free agent market again to possibly add a veteran piece at wideout, or to the NFL Draft later this month with any of their 10 overall picks.
"No matter what happens in the draft, we'll continue to monitor who's available now, who's available after the draft. Maybe it's at other positions too, but it's about making our offense the most dynamic we can, and we'll continue to work to do that," Beane said.
Plenty of momentum has been directed toward the Bills maybe adding a wide receiver piece in the 2024 NFL Draft with their first-round selection, which is currently at 28th overall. An added bonus for this draft is the class of wide receivers has been widely regarded as one of the deeper groups in some time.
However, Beane says the Bills won't put themselves in a position to dedicate their first round pick to one particular position over any other.
"At 28, if all our first round receivers are gone and the next guy is well into the second round but we have other positions, we're going to take the other position," he said. "You've still got to take good football players. Even if we don't get the player that everyone is looking for in April, it doesn't mean there's not other ways to do it."
The 2024 NFL Draft in Detroit will begin with Round 1 taking place on Thursday, April 25, followed by Rounds 2-3 on Friday and Rounds 4-7 on Saturday.
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