It’s been a week since the already-infamous video of Stefon Diggs partying on a boat over Memorial Day weekend – holding a substance that has led to much speculation – surfaced.
Neither the New England Patriots nor the NFL have taken any action to this point. Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel responded to a question about his new star receiver by simply saying, “Obviously we want to make great decisions on and off the field. … The message will be the same for all our players, that we're trying to make great decisions.”
On Monday morning, The Greg Hill Show’s Chris Curtis shared some information he got over the weekend regarding the reaction of Patriots owner Robert Kraft, and let’s just say Kraft isn’t thrilled with the kind of attention Diggs has drawn. Listen to the full segment above.
“Over the weekend, got some info about the Patriots, couple things of note regarding Stef Diggs,” Curtis said. “The big man, as in RKK, very unhappy with the events of last week. Went to the top of the organization. The wide receiver room is the rudderless room of the organization. Part of the agreement with Vrabel and the Patriots and Stef Diggs before signing him to the roughly $70 million deal was that he would be rehabbing here and a presence with the young receivers in the offseason. That was what most irked Vrabel last week, which was you had Baker and others playing like idiots, and the best player on the field, the guy that would command the room, would have the respect and the ears and the eyes of the young guys, they didn't have Stef Diggs to look toward. So, the organization, I believe – and this is just now my guess – they were trying to leverage the player before they could cut him.”
Curtis then added some additional details from Mike Reiss’ Sunday notes column regarding Diggs’ contract and one way the Patriots could potentially get out of it if they want to.
“But another nugget, this is from Mike Reiss, not related to what I just said: If he doesn't pass a physical when he's done his offseason rehab, the 12 and a half million is back. Like that hasn't been set in stone, that hasn't been paid yet. The roster bonus and the signing bonus only are paid when he passes the physical. So, they still could get out from under this. It's not going to be a release; it would just be that he failed his physical, and they can say goodbye.”
Curtis said he understands why the Patriots didn’t just cut Diggs last week.
“I do understand the organization's perspective. I think they handled this right in that if they had released him Friday, the fan base would have revolted. It's so clear that they need him, given the performance of the receivers. I know it's just OTAs, but it's a consistent play that is mediocre, that's been the case with the receivers for four years now.”
Greg Hill wondered why the Patriots ever envisioned any kind of “role model” type of role for Diggs.
“Were they wrong for looking at him as anything other than a talent on the football field?” Hill asked. “If you're looking to him to be a leader or a role model for these young wide receivers, like he's not the kind of guy that you would expect to be that, is he?
“I don't know him personally,” Jermaine Wiggins said. “There's never really been anything crazy off the field. Just from what we know, in the locker room, he kind of is selfish and wants the football, but every receiver and offensive player wants that. I think they probably look towards him and said, ‘All right, you've been in the league a long time, you've had success, and so that would be a good way for some of these young guys, you could be there to kind of give them some advice or mentor them in that way.’”
“But it's advice on catching the football,” Hill said. “It's advice on running routes. It's clearly not advice on what you should be doing on Memorial Day weekend.”