HEADLINES

Stefon Diggs

Texans Not Expected To Add WR

November 2nd, 2024 at 12:38pm CST by Ben Levine

The Texans recently lost wide receiver Stefon Diggs to a season-ending ACL tear. Despite the veteran representing one of the organization’s biggest offseason acquisitions (as well as signifying the organization’s desire to truly contend), the Texans won’t make any reactionary moves to replace the injured star.

[RELATED: Texans’ Stefon Diggs Suffers Torn ACL]

According to Dianna Russini of The Athletic, the Texans aren’t expected to make a “big splash” at wide receiver ahead of the trade deadline. Russini’s careful wording seemingly keeps the door open to some kind of WR transaction, but it seems unlikely that the front office will bring in any of the big names that remain available.

This approach could partly be due to the reinforcement the team will soon be receiving in wideout Nico Collins. The Texans are confident the wide receiver will return for the team’s Week 10 showdown with the Lions. If there was any time to add reinforcement, it would have been on Thursday night when the Texans were down to only one top wideout in Tank Dell. That game resulted in a loss, but the Texans can rest easy knowing they’ve already overcome their one-game stint with a decimated depth chart.

When the Texans had all three of their top WRs available, the team was already struggling to give the trio a full workload. Through the first three weeks of the season, Dell never got into more than 70 percent of his team’s offensive snaps; Dell topped that total in all but two of his healthy games in 2023. While the Texans may bring Collins along slowly following his return from a hamstring injury, the team can eventually turn to their duo for a full workload during the stretch run of the season.

Still, the Texans will have to look to the rest of their receivers room to step up with Diggs out of the lineup. Xavier Hutchinson has likely established himself as the team’s third WR, and the Texans also have steady veterans in Robert Woods and John Metchie. Assuming the Texans don’t make an addition to the receivers room, one of those aforementioned wideouts will still be called on to step up.

Texans’ Stefon Diggs Suffers Torn ACL

October 29th, 2024 at 10:59pm CST by Sam Robinson

Assembling a high-end receiving corps this offseason, the Texans have received bad news on their highest-profile target. Stefon Diggs‘ test results revealed a season-ending injury.

Diggs’ non-contact malady is a torn ACL, NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero reports. This is a crushing blow to a Texans team currently playing without Nico Collins. While Collins is expected back, Houston has a major question to answer after seeing its high-end trade pickup go down.

Despite Collins breaking out last year and earning an extension this offseason, the Texans acquired Diggs to give C.J. Stroud one of this era’s best wide receivers to target. GM Nick Caserio acquired Diggs’ Bills-constructed contract, pairing it with his quarterback’s rookie deal in his busiest offseason in charge.

While Stroud has certainly missed Collins since the fourth-year standout sustained a hamstring injury to lead him to IR, Diggs had loomed as vital insurance. The plan will change again for the AFC South leaders, who now may be interested in adding a piece before next week’s trade deadline.

The Texans acquired Diggs in a trade that sent a 2025 second-round pick to the Bills. Diggs had thrived in Buffalo, being a central figure in Josh Allen‘s ascent to superstardom. The Bills, however, had tired of the wideout’s antics. They were prepared to keep their longtime WR1 for at least one more season, holding onto him into April, but had discussed Diggs with the Texans at the Combine. The teams circled back to talks before the early-April trade, one that left the Bills with the most dead money in WR history and gave the Texans a perennial Pro Bowler. The Bills have since addressed the void Diggs created, trading for Amari Cooper; will the Texans consider a move before the Nov. 5 trade endpoint?

Houston still has Tank Dell, Robert Woods and 2022 second-round pick John Metchie. Xavier Hutchinson, a 2023 sixth-rounder, joins Dalton Schultz as parts of this Houston cadre. But Dell going from WR3 to Stroud’s top target would wound the Texans, despite the 2023 third-rounder’s early-career connection with Stroud. Collins cannot be activated until Week 10, and it is uncertain if the team’s receiving leader will be ready to return when first eligible.

For Diggs, this is obviously a significant setback. The former Vikings fifth-round pick had avoided major injuries throughout his career, playing in all but one Bills game during his four-year run with the team. Diggs ripped off four straight 1,100-yard seasons in Buffalo. He made a comment this offseason that suggested he sought a way out of Buffalo, reminding of his Minnesota exit, but the trade involved the strange step of the Texans removing the final three years of Diggs’ contract. This appeared to be at the request of Diggs’ camp to finalize a trade. As it stands, Diggs is soon to turn 31 and now headed toward free agency after this season-ending knee malady.

Diggs was on pace for a seventh 1,000-yard season, accumulating 496 (along with three TD catches) through eight games. Collins posted 567 yards despite finishing only four games. Dell sits third on the team with 229 yards. The diminutive talent will shift back into Stroud’s top option, while Diggs faces an uncertain future — one that will probably involve a significant value loss — following this development.

The presences of Woods, Metchie and Hutchinson may dissuade the Texans from giving up notable assets for help. But the team is 6-2 and competing for a Super Bowl berth with the 7-0 Chiefs, 6-2 Bills and others in a strong AFC. Suddenly, the team may benefit from the NFL moving the trade deadline back a week. It offers the Texans an emergency window to bolster their team.

While Cooper Kupp is not expected to be moved, Houston could have the likes of Diontae Johnson, Mike Williams and Darius Slayton to target if inclined. The team also may aim to lean on its Joe Mixon-fronted run game more going forward.

Minor NFL Transactions: 10/29/24

October 29th, 2024 at 7:37pm CST by Nikhil Mehta

Here are the latest transactions from around the NFL:

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Cleveland Browns

Detroit Lions

Houston Texans

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

Pittsburgh Steelers

Tennessee Titans

Murray suffered a torn pectoral in the Bears’ loss to the Commanders on Sunday, thinning out Chicago’s offensive line depth. He played 37 snaps at left guard in Week 5 in relief of an injured Tevin Jenkins, who left Sunday’s game with another injury. After full participation in practice last week, Larry Borom should be ready to be activated from injured reserve to reinforce the Bears’ offensive line before Week 9.

The Texans officially played Diggs on injured reserve after tests confirmed a season-ending ACL tear, a non-contact injury that occurred in Houston’s Week 8 victory over the Colts. With Nico Collins already on IR, C.J. Stroud will turn to Tank Dell and Dalton Schultz to keep the offense afloat until Collins returns. Diggs’ injury could heavily affect his market in free agency after requiring the Texans to remove the final three years of his contact to facilitate his trade from the Bills.

Sutton is eligible to play for the first time this year after serving an eight-game suspension for violation of the NFL’s personal conduct policy. He was suspended after he was arrested for domestic battery by strangulation in March, leading to his release by the Lions. The Steelers then signed him to a one-year deal in June before the league handed down his suspension in July, forcing Pittsburgh to turn to Beanie Bishop at nickel.

Texans Approached Bills About Stefon Diggs At Combine; Other Teams Inquired About WR

October 7th, 2024 at 9:00pm CST by Sam Robinson

Josh Allen faced the Texans without his most reliable receiver, as Khalil Shakir was down due to an ankle injury sustained in Baltimore. This helped lead to a woeful performance, accuracy-wise, from the Bills‘ franchise quarterback.

Buffalo’s superstar quarterback went 9-for-30 for just 131 yards in the loss to Houston. The player who previously held the role of Allen’s top weapon, Stefon Diggs, contributed to the Texans’ win. Diggs’ six-catch, 82-yard day helped Houston withstand a Buffalo rally, and he still counts $31.1MM toward on his former team’s cap sheet this year. The Diggs trade brought a wide receiver-record dead money number, one that trails only Russell Wilson‘s Broncos albatross this year. The Bills moved on anyway, with a Texans offer changing their plan at wide receiver.

The Bills moved on in early April, but Nick Caserio began this process by approaching Brandon Beane about Diggs’ availability at the Combine a month earlier, The Athletic’s Dianna Russini notes. The eighth-year Bills GM did not shut down the Texans, though he did not sound overly interested at that point, either. While the Bills did end up moving Diggs to Houston — for a 2025 second-round pick in a trade that also sent 2024 and 2025 fifth-rounders to the Texans — Russini adds other teams inquired about the receiver’s availability this offseason.

By the time the Texans finalized the trade (April 3), it was unclear who they were negotiating against — as several teams had made their WR moves in March or were planning to do so in the draft. Diggs dialogue had persisted for a bit, however. Both Russini and ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler indicate teams had asked the Bills about Diggs before last season.

As Buffalo constructed a run-heavier approach in OC Joe Brady‘s first weeks on the job in an interim capacity, the Bills began to view their offense as less Diggs-reliant, a team source told Fowler. As the Bills leaned on James Cook more than they had during the season’s first half, Diggs’ role lessened. Diggs also dropped a well-placed deep pass that could have changed the outcome of the Bills’ divisional-round matchup with the Chiefs. Although Beane called Diggs “a No. 1 receiver” at season’s end, the team moved on around players who do not yet fit that description.

The Texans were in on Keenan Allen in mid-March, joining the Jets in pursuing the longtime Chargers standout. The Bears ended up acquiring Allen for a fourth-round pick, but Fowler adds the Texans were close to adding him. That effort falling through led Houston back to Diggs, who has 31 catches for 315 yards and three total touchdowns through five games.

Shakir’s 230 yards (through four contests) lead the Bills, and though second-round rookie Keon Coleman is progressing, Allen does not have a Diggs-level presence yet. Partially as a result, the Bills are among the teams in the Davante Adams mix. Though, the Jets and Saints may be bigger players in that market, with the Bills — despite holding two 2025 second-round picks — believed to view the Raiders’ price as too high.

Diggs and Allen remained cordial during the former’s second-half usage decline last season, per Fowler, but the team’s decision to part with wide receivers coach Chad Hall after the 2022 campaign affected its relationship with Diggs. The team’s previous No. 1 target was close with Hall, whose contract had expired; Hall left to be the Jaguars’ pass-game coordinator last year. Diggs also may have offered unsuccessful input about helping to repair the Bills’ offense late in the 2022 season, as Allen battled an elbow injury.

This may not be a widely supported account, though it backs up one report from 2023. Diggs had later denied he tried to influence Bills play-calling. But this timeline also involved an animated sideline scene during the Bengals’ 27-10 divisional-round win and Sean McDermott later indicating — at the following minicamp, which featured an abrupt Diggs exit — he was “very concerned” with the wide receiver’s situation.

While the Bills moved past that June blip and Diggs played out the 2023 season, more cryptic tweets — which reminded of his 2020 Vikings exit to the point some with the NFC North franchise saw a similar pattern play out — emerged in the wake of Buffalo’s 11-6 campaign. Diggs did not request a Bills trade, nor were the Bills shopping him. But he made a comment to GQ this offseason pointing to a desire to leave.

The Bills gave Diggs’ camp permission to speak with the Texans before the trade happened. This helps explain why Houston made the strange decision to remove the final three years from the 30-year-old wideout’s contract, making him a 2025 free agent. This looks to have been a central part of the Texans’ negotiations with Diggs’ camp, pointing to the receiver angling for such terms, as it would be otherwise unusual for a team to give up three years of player control at what was a team-friendly rate; Diggs left Buffalo with four seasons left on his four-year, $96MM extension.

The Texans will have a Diggs decision to make in the near future, as he is playing out a contract year for the first time, while the Bills may need to shop for a veteran receiver before the November 5 deadline. If the Adams sweepstakes ends with the All-Pro not Buffalo-bound, it will be interesting to see if the AFC East powerhouse tries to add a piece at a lower cost.

WR Rumors: Chase, Diggs, Dotson, Steelers

September 4th, 2024 at 9:40pm CST by Sam Robinson

Ja’Marr Chase spent weeks holding in. Now, the All-Pro Bengals wide receiver continues to vacillate between a hold-in strategy and practicing. Wednesday marked a better sign for the team, as its top weapon suited up for what is considered its first game-week workout of the season. Of course, Chase returned to the sideline after having previously suited up. The extension-seeking player’s Thursday participation may be more indicative, given the inconsistency here, of his Week 1 availability.

Seeking a deal in Justin Jefferson territory, Chase is doing so with an organization that avoids the kind of guarantee structures the Vikings authorized for their top wideout. Mike Brown has said Chase is the team’s top non-Joe Burrow performer, but the longtime owner pointed to a 2025 deal being more likely. That said, a recent report indicated the Bengals intensified efforts to extend Chase late last week. Burrow said Wednesday that Chase is ready to play, via the Cincinnati Enquirer’s Kelsey Conway, but stopped short of confirming he would.

The Vikings did proceed this way with Jefferson, with the sides cutting off talks before last season. While the Bengals and Chase continue to negotiate, it will be interesting to see how the team — which has bristled about needing to change its guarantee structure for Chase — goes near the guarantees Jefferson ($110MM) and CeeDee Lamb ($100MM) commanded. Jefferson also did not hold in last year.

The Bengals listed Chase as a limited practice participant. A mysterious injury would be a way for him to avoid playing — absent a new contract — in Week 1, but Cincinnati’s injury report lists the limited capacity as pertaining to rest. Here is the latest from a few NFL wide receiver situations:

  • Jahan Dotson‘s second Commanders season included a clash with then-OC Eric Bieniemy, SI.com’s Albert Breer notes. Bieniemy’s style, as Ron Rivera pointed out last year, had brought a bit of a culture shock to several Commanders players. The longtime Chiefs OC is now in that position at UCLA. This year, teams began inquiring about Dotson’s availability after reading of Washington’s uncertainty beyond Terry McLaurin at receiver. The Commanders ended up making a rare trade with the Eagles, a pick-swap deal that brought back a 2025 third-rounder, to unload the 2022 first-round pick.
  • Missing out on Brandon Aiyuk, the Steelers have Van Jefferson and third-round pick Roman Wilson as their top George Pickens complementary options. The team also took a look at receiver/returner Jamal Agnew recently, NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero tweets. Agnew, who suffered a broken leg late in the 2023 season, has returned to full strength, per NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo. More than 10 teams have inquired about the converted cornerback’s status. The former All-Pro caught 90 passes during his recent three-year Jaguars tenure.
  • Preparing to being his Texans tenure, Stefon Diggs alluded to an effort to lead the Bills to trade him this offseason. The veteran receiver had said he was not surprised Buffalo did move him this offseason. “None of those teams wanted to get rid of me,” Diggs said, via GQ’s Clay Skipper. “Things had to shake because I kind of wanted them to shake.” The Bills moved on from Diggs, tiring of his antics, despite taking on a non-QB-record $31.1MM in dead money. The Texans then took the unusual step of removing the final three seasons from the wide receiver’s contract, making him a 2025 free agent-to-be. Diggs, who also made noise in an effort to leave Minnesota, has an opportunity to rebound after disappointing during the second half of last season in Buffalo.

NFL Active Leaders In Career Earnings

July 13th, 2024 at 10:00pm CST by Ben Levine

Kirk Cousins‘ four-year, $180MM deal with the Falcons this season vaulted him up the list of active career earners. This was by virtue of his $50MM signing bonus, adding to the more than $231MM he earned from the Commanders and (mostly) the Vikings throughout his career. Even under the worst-case scenario, Cousins will still see at least another $50MM come his way via his contract with Atlanta, which would push his career earnings north of $331MM.

While the soon-to-be 36-year-old Cousins will surely see a significant portion of the $80MM worth of unguaranteed money on his contract, he’ll still be hard pressed to catch Aaron Rodgers on the career-earnings list. Rodgers earned more than $306MM during his long tenure in Green Bay, and he’s already made close to $37MM during his one season in New York (mostly via the $35MM signing bonus on his reworked pact).

With at least $40MM of additional guarantees coming his way from the Jets, Rodgers will continue to grow his lead as the highest-earning NFL player of all time. Both Rodgers and Matthew Stafford were able to leap Tom Brady among the NFL’s highest all-time earners over the past year.

With all that said, we’ve listed the 25 active players who have earned the most money in their NFL careers (h/t to OverTheCap.com). While this list is up to date, it doesn’t account for soon-to-realized salaries for the 2024 campaign. This list is also solely focused on NFL cash and does not include off-the-field earnings:

  1. QB Aaron Rodgers: $343MM
  2. QB Matthew Stafford: $328MM
  3. QB Russell Wilson: $305MM
  4. QB Kirk Cousins: $281MM
  5. QB Jared Goff: $234MM
  6. LB Von Miller: $179MM
  7. QB Joe Flacco: $177MM
  8. OT Trent Williams: $171MM
  9. QB Derek Carr: $165MM
  10. LB Khalil Mack: $162MM
  11. QB Dak Prescott: $161MM
  12. DL Aaron Donald: $157MM
  13. QB Jimmy Garoppolo: $150MM
  14. DE Calais Campbell: $143MM
  15. QB Deshaun Watson: $142MM
  16. QB Patrick Mahomes: $136MM
  17. DE Joey Bosa: $134MM
  18. DL Leonard Williams: $134MM
  19. WR Mike Evans: $132MM
  20. QB Carson Wentz: $130MM
  21. WR DeAndre Hopkins: $128MM
  22. WR Stefon Diggs: $126MM
  23. DE Cameron Jordan: $126MM
  24. OT Lane Johnson: $121MM
  25. DT Chris Jones: $120MM

Texans WR Stefon Diggs Expected To Be Traded By Bills?

June 8th, 2024 at 10:48pm CST by Adam La Rose

One of the most impactful moves of the offseason for both the Bills and Texans was the trade which sent Stefon Diggs from Buffalo to Houston. The deal came about in short order with the Pro Bowl wideout’s former team originally expecting to keep him for at least the 2024 campaign.

Diggs himself seems to have had a different outlook on that front, however. When speaking to the media for the first time as a member of the Texans, he addressed the end of his Bills tenure. The 30-year-old said of a trade, via ESPN’s DJ Bien-Aime, that he felt “it was going in that direction.”

Tension (real or perceived) between team and player was a regular occurrence in the case of Diggs’ four-year run in Buffalo. He still managed to enjoy plenty of success there with 5,372 yards and 37 touchdowns, production which led to four straight Pro Bowl invites and a first-team All-Pro nod in 2020. Once the Texans presented a trade package involving a 2025 second-round pick, though, the Bills elected to move on.

In doing so, Buffalo incurred a dead cap charge of just over $31MM. General manager Brandon Beane has since confirmed the team’s preference was to absorb that record-breaking amount (for receivers) all at once rather than spreading it out over multiple years. While that approach will create considerable spending power in 2025, questions have been raised about the Bills’ receiver room this year.

By contrast, the Texans have added Diggs to a unit already featuring Tank Dell – who had a strong rookie campaign when healthy last season – and Nico Collins. The latter had a breakout season in 2023, and it earned him a lucrative extension. Diggs was attached to a big-ticket deal of his own, but Houston agreed to remove the post-2024 years of his contract. The former fifth-rounder is thus on track for free agency next offseason, and much of his value will depend on his ability to fit in well with his new team. Diggs’ remarks in that regard have been encouraging early on.

“They’re very welcoming,” he said of the Texans. “Very open arms, and I just feel like it’s important for me to be a part of things like that. It’s genuine. You thrive in that space. You thrive in a space where you’re loved. Thrive in a space of being around those who truly care and truly want to see you win.”

Bills GM Brandon Beane Addresses Stefon Diggs Trade

May 28th, 2024 at 3:10pm CST by Adam La Rose

The Bills’ receiver room was positioned to undergo change during the early portion of free agency with Gabe Davis expectedly departing on the open market. Buffalo followed that up with the blockbuster deal which sent Stefon Diggs to the Texans.

The Bills originally intended to keep Diggs in the fold for at least one more season, viewing the 30-year-old as still being capable of producing like a No. 1. However, the Texans’ willingness to acquire Diggs (with a return including a 2025 second-round pick) changed Buffalo’s approach. The latter team took on a dead money charge of just over $31MM to move on from Diggs.

Buffalo could have spread that charge out over multiple seasons, but doing so would have limited the team’s spending power in consecutive offseasons. When speaking about the trade, Bills general manager Brandon Beane confirmed an upfront approach with respect to dead money was the team’s preference once the decision was made to move on from Diggs.

“A player of his caliber, you weigh a lot of things in those situations,” Beane said during an appearance on The Athletic Football Show (video link). “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. We think we can compete and do what we need to do by eating it now. 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.'”

The Bills have added a number of new faces at the receiver spot this offseason, including Curtis Samuel, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Mack Hollins and Chase Claypool. After trading out of the first round, Buffalo also added Keon Coleman with a selection endorsed by quarterback Josh Allen. Those newcomers, along with returnee Khalil Shakir, will be counted on to replace Diggs and Davis’ production.

Of course, Diggs is now on track for free agency next offseason with Houston having removed the post-2024 years of his contract. The four-time Pro Bowler’s level of play with the Texans will be a key storyline related to this trade, as will its financial implications (or lack thereof, regarding future years) from the Bills’ perspective.

Texans Remove Final Three Seasons From Stefon Diggs’ Contract

April 5th, 2024 at 3:04pm CST by Sam Robinson

APRIL 5: One benefit from this unexpected move will come in the form of 2024 cap space. The Texans replaced the Diggs years with three void years, adding a fourth to spread out the wide receiver’s cap hit through 2027. Diggs’ 2024 cap number has dropped to $5.88MM, ESPN.com’s Field Yates tweets. A restructure could have created this cap space as well, and the Texans now have a $16.64MM dead money number — in the event Diggs does not sign an extension before the 2025 league year — staring at them.

APRIL 4: A day after trading for Stefon Diggs, the Texans are making an interesting adjustment to the Pro Bowl wide receiver’s contract. Diggs’ Bills-constructed deal ran through 2027; that is no longer the case.

The Texans are removing the 2025, 2026 and 2027 season from the contract, ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter reports. Diggs is now set to become a free agent in 2025. The Texans moved $3.5MM in 2025 guarantees up to 2024, running that amount to $22.52MM. This was a mutual decision, The Athletic’s Dianna Russini tweets.

[RELATED: Texans’ Offer Changed Bills’ Stefon Diggs Plan]

Teams do not exactly make a habit of ceding contractual control, so nixing three years of a high-profile player’s contract represents an unusual development. The Texans will certainly ensure Diggs is motivated to succeed in 2024, as a fourth contract would stand to await him next year. But they now run the risk of losing the six-time 1,000-yard receiver after one season.

Houston does, however, hold exclusive negotiating rights with Diggs until March 2025. The parties could work out another deal. Unless something is already in place, the team has introduced a unnecessary risk into this equation. As SI.com’s Albert Breer notes, Diggs checking in with a $22.5MM cap number would spike his 2025 franchise tag figure north of $27MM. That would make a tag prohibitive for Houston. Because the Texans adjusted Diggs’ deal, they would not be entitled to a compensatory pick if he departs in 2025.

The Bears did not adjust Keenan Allen‘s contract upon trading for the longtime Chargers WR, who drew interest from the Texans. While teams have made trade-and-extend moves for wideouts in the recent past — Tyreek Hill, A.J. Brown, Davante Adams each signed new deals upon being moved in 2022 — those players all had one season left on their previous contracts or, in Adams’ case, were franchise-tagged. Diggs was tied to a four-year, $96MM deal that featured four remaining years, separating this decision from those early-2020s calls.

When the Bills acquired Diggs from the Vikings in 2020, he remained on his Minnesota contract — a $14.4MM-per-year deal that ran through the 2024 season — over his first two Buffalo seasons. The Bills and Diggs huddled up on the above-referenced $24MM-per-year deal in 2022, and the extension years were just set to begin. Diggs, 30, now has an unexpected opportunity to become a first-time free agent next year.

At the time of the trade Wednesday morning, it appears the Texans would have Diggs’ $24MM-AAV contract aligned with C.J. Stroud‘s remaining rookie-deal seasons. Stroud must be kept on a rookie contract through at least 2025. The Texans had the ability to easily escape from Diggs’ deal after the 2024 season. While removing these years could reignite Diggs — who offered a low-wattage conclusion to his 2023 season — a rebound season would also stand to up his value ahead of free agency. That would work against Houston, even if Stroud presents a nice drawing card for the nine-year veteran.

As it stands, the Texans certainly appear confident they will be able to retain Diggs beyond 2024. If not, they sent a Vikings-obtained second-round pick to Buffalo for one year of Diggs, who will turn 31 in November.

Bills Trade WR Stefon Diggs To Texans

April 3rd, 2024 at 10:19pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Stefon Diggs era in Buffalo will end after four seasons. The AFC East champions are trading the star wide receiver to the Texans, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reports. Both teams have since announced the trade.

The Bills will receive a 2025 second-round pick, according to Schefter, who adds the Texans will pick up Diggs, a 2025 fifth-round pick and a 2024 sixth. This will bring a decorated but mercurial period to a close for the Bills and Diggs. The 2025 second-rounder originally belonged to the Vikings, who packaged it in a deal to acquire the Texans’ No. 23 overall pick this year.

[RELATED: Texans’ Offer Changed Bills’ Stefon Diggs Plan]

It will also arm C.J. Stroud with a high-end weapon. With Stroud on a rookie contract, the Texans are bringing in one of the NFL’s most lucrative receiver deals. This move comes after the Texans had considered trading for Keenan Allen. Both high-end wideouts have six 1,000-yard seasons on their respective resumes, but Diggs — at 30 — is more than a year younger.

This, of course, marks the second time Diggs has been dealt in his career. The first such trade changed the Bills’ trajectory. Josh Allen‘s path to stardom reached a clear pivot point when the Bills acquired Diggs during the 2020 offseason. They landed the five-year Vikings wideout for a package headlined by a first-round selection. With Diggs set to turn 31 later this year and tied to a big-ticket contract, his price tag dropped.

Buffalo kept Diggs on his Minnesota-constructed contract for two seasons but handed out a four-year, $96MM deal during the 2022 offseason. Four years remain on that contract. While Diggs’ deal sits fifth in terms of wide receiver AAV, the Texans do not have too much money allocated to their skill positions. Diggs’ contract will overlap with Tank Dell and Nico Collins‘ rookie pacts. In clear rebuilding mode to start Nick Caserio‘s GM tenure, the Texans went into last year without any payment north of $7MM at the skill positions. They have now re-signed Dalton Schultz (three years, $36MM) and signed up to add Diggs, who will join Joe Mixon as a trade pickup in Houston.

For Buffalo, this will certainly mark a sea change. Diggs ripped off four straight 1,100-plus-yard seasons with the Bills. That included two 1,400-yard years. The elite route runner gave the Bills a bona fide No. 1 target after they had lacked one for the better part of the 21st century. The addition rocketed Allen onto the superstar tier. The Bills ventured to the AFC championship game in Diggs’ first year in New York, winning their first playoff games since 1995. Diggs, of course, was not the sole reason for Buffalo’s resurgence. But he played one of the central roles.

While the Texans are set to roll out a Diggs-Dell-Collins receiver trio, the Bills have now lost Diggs and Gabe Davis this offseason. Buffalo did add Curtis Samuel and saw Khalil Shakir make key contributions down the stretch, but it appears likely the AFC power will need to come out of the draft with a major WR pickup. Fortunately, this year brings another deep crop at the position. Considering their Super Bowl window ahead of Allen’s age-28 season, this trade certainly ramps up the pressure on the Sean McDermott–Brandon Beane duo.

Diggs’ Bills relationship both traversed rocky terrain and ended on a low note. A confusing situation developed at minicamp last year, with Diggs leaving the team’s facility unexpectedly. McDermott referred to the exit as an excused absence, but he also called the Diggs situation “very concerning.” Allen attempted to downplay the matter, and Diggs soon said he wanted to finish his career in Buffalo. This all came after Diggs stormed out of the Bills’ locker room and needed to be brought back following the team’s divisional-round loss to the Bengals last year. A report indicated Diggs was frustrated by his role in Buffalo’s offense, one that had consistently featured him as the lead weapon. Diggs later denied that was the case.

As last season progressed, Diggs also became a lesser part of the Bills’ offense. As the team regrouped following a 5-5 start — one that led to Ken Dorsey‘s firing and Joe Brady‘s elevation to OC — Diggs did not offer WR1-level production. Allen needed to rely on Shakir and a James Cook-powered run game to drag the Bills to their fourth straight AFC East title. Diggs finished with 1,183 yards but only eclipsed 50 in two of Buffalo’s final seven games. Diggs added a crucial drop late in the Bills’ narrow divisional-round loss to the Chiefs; he caught just three passes for 21 yards in that 27-24 defeat.

This move will also be financially punitive for the Bills. Due to signing bonus proration, the team will be hit with more than $31MM in dead money. While the second-round pick being acquired will be important, Buffalo will see this money accelerate onto its 2024 salary cap due to the deal being finalized before June 1. In terms of single-season dead cap hits, Diggs’ ranks fifth in NFL history (h/t Spotrac). For non-QBs, the $31MM hit sets a record.

Rather than restructure Diggs’ deal to create cap space, the Bills are taking on considerable pain now. That will increase an uphill battle for a Bills team that has also moved on from Mitch Morse, Jordan Poyer and Tre’Davious White this offseason. Diggs’ $18.5MM 2024 base salary is guaranteed. Beyond that, Houston has some flexibility.

At the other end of the spectrum, the Texans are spending in a way they have not under Caserio. The Bill Belichick disciple has greenlit this Diggs deal following the Schultz re-up, Mixon trade and a few defensive augmentations — headlined by the near-fully guaranteed Danielle Hunter accord. With Stroud and Will Anderson tied to rookie deals through at least 2025, the Texans are operating with urgency.

As this represents a risk for a Bills team attempting to stay near the AFC’s top tier, the dead money here certainly suggests the organization believed this relationship had run its course. The Texans are not giving up too much for the 10th-year veteran, but they are acquiring a player with some baggage — Diggs clashed with Vikings brass during his final Minnesota year as well — and one coming off an unremarkable finish to last season. Still, Diggs brings an impressive pedigree to Houston. He will now join younger brother Trevon Diggs in Texas; the Texans play both the Bills and Cowboys in 2024.

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