IT WAS NEITHER the largest nor essentially the most memorable play of the Buffalo Payments’ 2023 season. Forward 10-7 late within the second quarter on the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 12, Josh Allen took the third-and-6 shotgun snap from the 13-yard line, glanced left, then to the appropriate slot the place he knew precisely who he would discover. Stefon Diggs had discovered a tiny void within the Eagles’ zone on the purpose line, which is the place Allen’s essentially low and ideal throw discovered him, sliding within the rain between security Kevin Byard and linebacker Zach Cunningham. Landing.
The Payments would blow a double-digit fourth-quarter lead and lose in time beyond regulation. And, because it seems, that will be Diggs’ thirty seventh and last landing as a Invoice. The 30-year-old broad receiver with the NFL’s most receptions from 2020 to 2023 would see his alternatives dwindle, at the same time as his staff went on a five-game profitable streak that took it from 6-6 after the Eagles loss to the AFC East title. 4 months and one week after he slid by way of the rain in Philly, the Payments traded Diggs to the Houston Texans, taking up $31 million of lifeless wage cap cash to maneuver him — the very best recognized lifeless cap cost for a large receiver ever.
The place it went improper between Diggs and the Payments is just not a query that yields a single reply from greater than a dozen staff, entrance workplace and business sources ESPN contacted for this story. The participant is famously mercurial. The staff’s degree of persistence together with his persona ebbed and flowed. The offense was headed in a special course. The ratio of the affect of those three causes on Diggs’ exit is determined by who’s doing the speaking.
And now comes a reunion between Diggs and Buffalo (Sunday, 1 p.m. ET, CBS) that may probably be skilled on the floor. What lies beneath, solely the principals can say. Diggs declined remark for this story, as did the Payments.
However to make sure, this divorce didn’t come out of nowhere.
“Great participant,” a staff supply stated. “However the offense did not want him anymore.”
THE 2020 DEAL that despatched Diggs from Minnesota to Buffalo was simply what Allen and the Payments wanted. The multitalented Allen was heading into his third season and coming off a promising playoff 12 months in 2019 however lacked a real alpha at receiver. Diggs crammed that vacuum, establishing his place instantly within the Payments tradition in the course of the COVID-altered offseason of 2020 and setting the tone day-after-day together with his competitiveness and work ethic. If each receiver acquired one rep, Diggs wished 5. Diggs has been described by a number of sources as popular with teammates, sentiments that had been obvious from his early days in Buffalo. Whether or not organizing a Thanksgiving turkey drive within the Buffalo space or taking part in catch with followers pregame, Diggs made his presence and instance felt inside the neighborhood and the locker room.
Diggs’ arrival immediately correlated with Allen’s vault into the top-tier quarterback dialog and the Payments’ transition from fringe playoff staff to true contender. Although a few of Allen’s positive factors could be defined by the pure maturation of a younger quarterback, Allen’s improved numbers after Diggs’ arrival in Whole QBR (from 50 to 71), completion proportion (56% to 66%) and touchdown-to-interception ratio (from 30 touchdowns, 21 interceptions to 137 touchdowns, 57 interceptions) had been undeniably tied to the duo’s compatibility.
For his half, Diggs’ star rose instantly with Allen as his quarterback — he was named a first-team All-Professional in 2020.
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The 2 appeared to have buddy-cop film chemistry early on, sharing secret handshakes and laughs on the sector. Allen went out of his method to reward Diggs in entrance of each microphone, heralding his No. 1 wideout’s affect on the sector and his friendship off it.
“I have been a giant believer in off-field relationships paying dividends on the sector. I feel that ours type of speaks volumes,” Allen stated in 2021 in regards to the Diggs relationship. “We get to hang around with one another quite a bit, and develop these kinds of bonds and relationships, and it reveals up on the sector.”
In time, frustration would present up on the sector as properly, tied to the shortcoming of the Payments to interrupt by way of on the largest stage. Late in an unsightly 27-10 house loss to the Bengals within the 2022 playoffs, Diggs — restricted to 4 catches on the day — might be seen animatedly addressing Allen on the sideline.
Stefon Diggs exchanging some phrases with Josh Allen on the sideline pic.twitter.com/J2heSTBMrc
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) January 22, 2023
He defined himself in a collection of tweets that solely deepened the intrigue:
“Need me to be okay with shedding ? Nah … Need me to be okay with our degree of play when it is lower than the usual ? Nah … It is simple to criticize my response greater than the consequence,” Diggs tweeted.
The controversy ignited anew on the subsequent necessary minicamp when coach Sean McDermott instructed reporters he was “very involved” about Diggs not being current.
The following day, McDermott clarified that he “gave Stef permission to get some house” after a dialog between the coach and star receiver. Diggs returned to follow that day.
Theories in regards to the core problem abounded at Payments staff headquarters that day. One staff supply believed Diggs had grown pissed off with the late-season losses, had strategies about bettering the general strategy to profitable that went past the specifics of his personal function, and that his supply on these ideas may need gone poorly. When requested about that theme, a supply near Diggs stated the receiver “acquired to the purpose the place he figured, I am right here they usually know what I can do, but when we’re shedding, let me assist.”
“He is tremendous sensible, and for those who sugarcoat it with him and are usually not 100%, he’ll see by way of it,” the supply stated of Diggs’ strategy. “And he remembers every part you say.”
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A separate staff supply cited the 2022 postseason departure of the staff’s receivers coach, Chad Corridor, as some extent of competition. Diggs is near Corridor, whose contract was up after the 2022 season. Jacksonville supplied him a promotion from broad receivers coach to passing recreation coordinator, which he accepted. The Payments changed him with veteran coach Adam Henry.
No matter Diggs’ intentions or the staff’s dealing with of them, what a staff supply stated felt like unstated rigidity between the 2 sides for some time had gone public.
The problem appeared to chill down after that, as Diggs remained the focus of the offense with 73 catches by way of the primary 10 video games of the 2023 season. However Buffalo misplaced 5 of these video games, and a 24-22 upset by the hands of Russell Wilson and the Broncos turned up the warmth round the entire staff.
Diggs’ youthful brother, Dallas Cowboys cornerback Trevon Diggs, tweeted “Man 14 Gotta rise up outta there,” in the course of the Monday night time loss, a remark Stefon tried to separate himself from later that week (“I am not chargeable for how different individuals really feel,” Diggs stated.). By then, McDermott had fired offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey and promoted quarterbacks coach Joe Brady to the interim OC function.
Brady instantly broke from Dorsey’s system that had rushed about 25 instances per recreation the earlier season. Brady as an alternative known as 155 speeding performs within the first 4 video games (38.8 per recreation), culminating in a blowout of the Cowboys through which they ran 49 instances. It was the staff’s most operating performs in a recreation since 2017.
Extra importantly, it confirmed that an offense so reliant on Allen to run and throw — usually to Diggs when he put it within the air — might adapt. Diggs’ 4 catches for 48 yards on 5 targets towards Dallas may need appeared like a minimal contribution inside the field rating, however what they stated held significance past the numbers.
“For some time it was, ‘No approach we will play with out this dude,'” a staff supply who was on the scene that night time stated about Diggs. “However I believed to myself, ‘Oh, perhaps we will do that with out him.'”
Diggs remained a main possibility, however his targets dipped from 102 over the primary 10 video games (10.2 per recreation) to 75 over the ultimate 9 (8.3 per recreation).
Staff sources say the run-oriented assault wasn’t about Diggs, however extra about maximizing the general personnel, involving a number of pass-catching choices and setting extra of a bodily tone. Nevertheless it signified a page-turn in philosophy and choice.
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“We nonetheless tried to attempt to get him the ball,” a Payments personnel supply stated. “It is extra about philosophy, [Brady and McDermott’s] model, what’s simplest holistically for the offense. Groups know the place you are going when it comes to go-to guys. You need to unfold that factor out, have flexibility.”
In the meantime, Diggs wasn’t saying a lot publicly — he was hardly ever accessible to the media in any respect — even when his frustration was privately mounting. The general public story was about defenses doing extra to take Diggs away than they’d at any earlier level in his Buffalo tenure.
“I am gonna be sincere, it is irritating,” Diggs stated earlier than the win over the Cowboys. “I acquired to do a whole lot of issues to get open after which a whole lot of issues acquired to go proper for me to get the ball. Y’all know the way a lot of a competitor I’m, and I wish to play at a excessive degree, and I all the time need it to occur and even when it would not, when it would not materialize, I undoubtedly get somewhat discouraged at a second, however then I acquired to shake again, trigger I all the time take a look at it like, my staff nonetheless wants me.”
Diggs and Allen remained cordial {and professional} by way of the philosophical shift, staff sources stated.
There wasn’t far more Diggs might say inside the constructing, or in his public feedback. The Payments had been profitable once more. However his likelihood to change uniforms for the third time in 5 years was looming.
FROM AFAR, A staff within the NFC North had seen this script earlier than.
“All of it felt very acquainted,” a high-ranking Vikings supply from the Diggs period stated.
Coaches and scouts on the Minnesota workers throughout Diggs’ tenure there usually confer with the “Diggs expertise,” a curler coaster of on-field brilliance and off-field irritability that may elicit discomfort inside the soccer constructing.
“It may be quite a bit. He would possibly throw his helmet. He’ll put on in your quarterback. However discover me a premier receiver that is not a diva.”
Ex-Vikings supply on Diggs
After Minnesota drafted Diggs out of Maryland in 2015 — one of many notable fifth-round steals in fashionable NFL historical past — the staff discovered his aggressive facet might result in frustration. The Vikings went to the playoffs thrice throughout Diggs’ 5 years with the staff, all beneath head coach (and famous Diggs fan) Mike Zimmer, and by no means completed with a shedding document. However the very factor that made Diggs nice — his perception that getting him the ball would assist the staff — was one thing Minnesota needed to handle each on recreation day and all through the week.
“He must have somebody he can discuss to, listening to his issues, work by way of what was bothering him, recognizing him as a voice,” a Vikings supply who immediately noticed Diggs’ tenure there stated.
A number of Vikings sources stated that whereas the franchise thought-about Diggs’ need to maximise his offensive affect to be principally a optimistic, the staff needed to work to make sure it did not flip poisonous inside the constructing. Vikings brass spent important time speaking by way of points with Diggs, realizing he simply wanted to vent generally.
Diggs was recognized to be forceful when he did. And he shared the broad receiver room with one other alpha, Adam Thielen, who additionally wished the ball.
To present then-quarterback Kirk Cousins peace on the sideline throughout video games, coaches as soon as located the Vikings receivers other than the quarterbacks and nearer to the defensive benches, an ex-Vikings supply stated.
“It may be quite a bit,” the supply stated. “He would possibly throw his helmet. He’ll put on in your quarterback. However discover me a premier receiver that is not a diva. … And he works extremely laborious. That is why coaches love him.”
After 5 years that included a pair of 1,000-yard seasons, the Diggs-authored “Minneapolis Miracle” but in addition $200,000 in fines for unexcused absences from practices and conferences, the staff and Diggs determined to half methods in what a Vikings-era supply described as a mutual resolution between participant and staff. (A separate staff supply made clear Diggs wished out.) Minnesota dealt Diggs as a part of a bundle that despatched Buffalo’s first-round 2020 option to the Vikings, a decide the staff used to draft Justin Jefferson at twenty second general.
That supply didn’t recall Buffalo asking for recommendation on easy methods to handle Diggs’ persona within the commerce course of.
“You all the time have to fret about how he feels,” a Payments staff supply stated. “That wears on a locker room.”
In 2023, 4 seasons because the commerce from Minnesota to the Payments, the each day realities of Diggs weren’t confined to the soccer facet of the constructing in Buffalo. The Payments handled a minor public relations disaster in September 2023 when a staff worker who works as a reporter for the Payments’ web site was heard on a livestream saying, “There is no management over Stefon Diggs. Dude’s gonna do what he needs to do. He’ll look in my face and say f— you … that is how he treats everyone.”
The worker later apologized, and Diggs reacted to the controversy by tweeting: “The media or followers might confuse my competitiveness that they witness on the sector as who I’m as an individual. However off the sector I would by no means deal with anybody how she described & have by no means stated something remotely near that to her.”
The controversy abated, and the season continued. Greater than a 12 months later, the staff worker stays a reporter for the Payments’ web site. The group would come to a special resolution about Diggs.
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AS HE FIELDED questions at his season-ending information convention, Payments basic supervisor Brandon Beane was requested about Diggs’ manufacturing down the stretch, together with a three-catch, 21-yard efficiency in a divisional spherical playoff loss on the Chiefs.
“Stef’s … a No. 1 receiver. I firmly imagine that, not wavering off of that,” Beane stated. Left unstated in that analysis was how prominently Diggs factored into the Payments’ plans.
Issues had been altering in Buffalo. Younger offensive playmakers, together with tight finish Dalton Kincaid and operating again James Cook dinner, had been rising in stature. The Payments confronted roughly a $50 million wage cap deficit, forcing laborious roster selections. Phrase unfold amongst participant brokers that Buffalo can be parting with high-priced, growing old veterans, partly to brace for ballooning cap hits on Allen’s $258 million contract. Heart Mitch Morse, nook Tre’Davious White and security Jordan Poyer had been launched earlier than free company. Longtime security Micah Hyde, who was considering retirement, was non-tendered.
Buffalo had “no intention to ship [Diggs] away” initially, a staff supply stated, however inquiries had been rampant even earlier than the turbulent 2023 season, overtures the Payments rebuffed. Executives from a number of receiver-needy groups confirmed they didn’t hear from Buffalo this previous offseason purchasing Diggs — the Payments had been on the hook for Diggs’ contract both approach; there was no 2024 cap reduction accessible by dealing him.
Whereas staff sources weren’t capable of affirm whether or not Diggs formally requested a commerce, they agree Diggs was open to a change in surroundings and an eventual commerce was a mutual resolution.
“If he isn’t joyful someplace, he is sensible sufficient to maneuver his approach out,” a supply near Diggs stated.
Added a staff supply: “It is a regular factor for veteran guys at that stage of his profession to be drawn to one thing new. I feel there was some attraction [to Houston] for him.”
On the Professional Bowl Video games in February, Diggs acknowledged “there’s a whole lot of modifications happening” in Buffalo, and “I can not inform you what the longer term holds, however I am nonetheless being me.”
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Then got here the cryptic tweets.
“Prepared for watever” on March 15; “Properly….” a day later; “Being diligent” on March 25.
Whether or not motivational fodder or coded commerce discuss, these messages felt eerily much like his social media habits earlier than he was traded from Minnesota.
The assumption in league circles is the Texans had been dedicated to getting a longtime veteran receiver this offseason. They first tried with Keenan Allen, who was traded from the Los Angeles Chargers to the Chicago Bears on March 14. A supply near Allen stated the Texans acquired “very shut” to dealing for the receiver.
As soon as that fell by way of, the Texans pivoted to Diggs. Phrase out of the Payments’ locker room began to trickle out in mid-March — according to these imprecise Diggs tweets — that Houston was a attainable vacation spot.
Those that know Texans basic supervisor Nick Caserio weren’t shocked by this. He scours the marketplace for alternatives, a Texans supply stated, utilizing personnel conferences to debate gamers that might be accessible attributable to a litany of things. “I feel [Caserio] noticed the writing on the wall [with Diggs in Buffalo],” the supply stated.
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The Payments had a number of components to navigate. They needed to negotiate parameters of the deal. Houston and Diggs would additionally must renegotiate his contract, wiping out the ultimate three years to make him a 2025 free agent. Buffalo would want to grant permission for Diggs’ camp and the Texans to speak earlier than a commerce commenced.
And a call of this magnitude probably concerned Josh Allen, at the very least not directly. Whereas the staff’s actual communication with Allen about Diggs’ future with the staff is unknown, one staff supply believes “[Allen is] on the level that they don’t seem to be going to make any vital strikes like that with out letting him know.”
The commerce was introduced April 3, with the Payments receiving a 2025 second-round decide in change for Diggs, a 2024 sixth-round decide (later dealt to the Lions) and a 2025 fifth-round choice. One AFC govt known as Buffalo “fortunate” to get that type of worth for a 30-year-old receiver, contemplating the idea amongst some within the business that Houston may need been the lone main participant for his companies on the stage the deal was made.
Would Buffalo have dealt Diggs if it did not obtain a suggestion nearly as good as Houston’s? One staff supply was not conscious of a tough line on hypothetical commerce phrases, one other stated it was the appropriate time to maneuver on and believes the events in all probability would have discovered a method to half amicably — even when it meant Buffalo purchasing Diggs extra aggressively. It by no means got here to that.
Diggs known as his expertise in Houston “a breath of contemporary air” when he met the media for the primary time as a Texan in June.
“You thrive in an area the place you are cherished,” Diggs stated. “Thrive in an area of being round those that really care and really wish to see you win.”
It took Diggs little time to depart behind the career-high seven-game touchdown-less streak he introduced with him from Buffalo. He caught two landing passes from C.J. Stroud in a Week 1 win over the Colts. By way of 4 weeks, Diggs is No. 3 on ESPN’s Receiver Scores checklist, a composite metric that distills a large receiver’s potential to get open, make catches and accrue yards after the catch. The Texans are making Diggs’ place within the offense a precedence in a approach that wasn’t taking place in his last days in Buffalo.
In the meantime, there’s Josh Allen.
Sooner or later earlier than he was traded in April, Diggs posed a pointed query to a social media consumer who expressed the opinion that Diggs was not important to Allen’s success.
“You certain?” Diggs fired again.
By way of 4 weeks, it seems the consumer was on to one thing. The Payments are 3-1, and Allen is an early MVP candidate who leads the league in QBR by way of his first 4 video games of the post-Diggs period.
And now comes Sunday’s reunion, which has been preceded by only a contact of the drama emblematic of the Diggs-Payments relationship.
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Allen made headlines after Buffalo’s 47-10 Week 3 win over the Jaguars when he stated, “That is the great thing about it when guys get to purchase into this and actually perceive like I’ll not get the ball 4 or 5 instances thrown to me a recreation however the one or two instances I do, I’ll have alternatives to be ultimately zone. It is a enjoyable and fantastic factor if you acquired a bunch of fellows that do not care in regards to the stats, they do not care in regards to the touchdowns.”
Allen later clarified that “I am not making an attempt to tear down anyone” and referenced Diggs particularly when he stated, “I like 14, I nonetheless do. However everybody needs to maintain making this factor [the split] a factor. We’re so targeted on what is going on on within our constructing and that is the one factor we’re caring about proper now.”
The numerous league observers who’ve had this recreation circled because the NFL schedule launch will perceive if that focus is diverted this Sunday.
After the Cowboys’ Week 4 win over the Giants, Trevon Diggs was sporting outsized black shades to battle the intense digicam lights by his locker. Reporters had been fixated on his perspective after the Cowboys cornerback helped Dallas knock off the New York Giants.
As soon as the cameras shut off, a reporter reminded Diggs that Stefon’s Texans host the Payments in Week 5.
“When is that recreation? Is it prime time?” requested Diggs, as if doing the maths in his head to find out whether or not he wanted to set the DVR.
Truly, the Cowboys face the Steelers in Pittsburgh in prime time, whereas Buffalo and Houston kick off at 1 p.m ET. Trevon ought to be capable to watch.
Many are excited for that matchup, the reporter instructed him. Stefon’s youthful brother arched an eyebrow and gave a figuring out smile as he headed for the staff bus.
“Me too,” Trevon stated.