On April 3, 2024, the Buffalo Bills dealt Stefon Diggs, a 2024 sixth-round pick, and a 2025 fifth-round pick to the Houston Texans for a 2025 second-round selection. The blockbuster trade was a huge surprise, with many wondering why the contending Bills were parting with their top offensive weapon during Josh Allen’s prime.
Let’s break down the trade, why the Bills decided to move Diggs, and what those involved have said about the blockbuster deal.
Examining Why Buffalo Traded Stefon Diggs
Shortly after the trade, Bills general manager Brandon Beane appeared on “The Athletic Football Show” and explained why he decided to trade Diggs.
“A player of his caliber, you weigh a lot of things in those situations,” Beane explained. “Ultimately, we just talked about the cap. … 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.
“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.'”
Why did the Bills choose to trade Stefon Diggs now?
GM Brandon Beane explains that it was more prudent to eat the cap hit now rather than later on The Athletic NFL Show.
🎧 https://t.co/SsvcEuNe6k pic.twitter.com/VLJtZpU1si
— The Athletic NFL (@TheAthleticNFL) May 28, 2024
There’s no question that the salary cap played a major role in the Bills’ decision-making. Diggs wasn’t the only cap casualty for the Bills this past offseason, as they also moved on from key veterans such as Jordan Poyer, Gabe Davis, Mitch Morse, and Tre’Davious White due to cap constraints.
In 2022, Diggs signed a four-year extension worth $96 million, which included a $21.5 million signing bonus and $70 million guaranteed. If the Bills kept Diggs, they would’ve had to pay him $18 million in 2025, $19 million in 2026, and $17.495 million in 2027. While dealing Diggs to the Texans caused the Bills to take on a dead-cap hit of over $31 million, it cleaned up their future cap sheets.
MORE: Who Are the NFL’s Highest-Paid Wide Receivers?
Also, Diggs’ production dipped significantly during the second half of the 2023 season. While he totaled 107 receptions for 1,183 yards and eight touchdowns last year, the majority of his stats came in the first half of the campaign. Through the first nine games, he had 70 catches for 834 yards and seven touchdowns. Over the final eight games, he totaled just 37 catches for 349 yards and one touchdown.
Also, on the season, Diggs posted his fewest yards (1,183) and yards per reception (11.1) since 2018. After ranking seventh in yards per route run in 2022, he dropped to 31st in 2023. And in ESPN’s tracking metrics, he dipped from fourth to 67th.
His struggles coincided with the team’s offensive coordinator change and a shift to a run-first offense, so Diggs isn’t entirely to blame. However, when a wide receiver in his 30s has such a drastic drop-off, it’s definitely cause for concern. If the Bills feared that Diggs would continue this rapid decline, perhaps they wanted to move his contract while they still could.
Also, under new OC Joe Brady, the Bills have shown that they can win without throwing the ball a ton. Since Brady took over as the team’s offensive coordinator in Week 11 of last season, Buffalo didn’t lose a regular-season game in regulation (a nine-game streak that lasted until their Week 4, Sept. 29, 2024 loss to the Baltimore Ravens).
Since Week 15, Allen has completed more than 18 passes just twice in eight games. This is significant because he had reached 19+ completions in 13 of the previous 14 regular-season games (dating back to Week 16, 2023).
Meanwhile, Buffalo rushed for at least 100 yards in 11 straight games, a streak that ended in their Week 4 loss in Baltimore and was the third-longest active streak in the NFL behind only the Ravens (36) and San Francisco 49ers (13). Under Brady, the Bills averaged 149.6 rush yards per game down the stretch in 2023, the fourth-highest in the league over that span.
Given the drastic changes to the offense, the Bills likely realized that Diggs’ role would be reduced and his production wouldn’t justify what they were paying him.
Diggs Takes Some Blame for the Trade
During a recent interview with GQ Sports, Diggs took some responsibility for the deal. The way he tells it, he essentially forced the Bills’ hand (just as he did with the Minnesota Vikings before they traded him to Buffalo in March 2020).
“None of those teams wanted to get rid of me,” Diggs said. “Things had to shake because I kind of wanted them to shake.”
Why did Diggs want to move on from Buffalo?
“Last year, I was in the worst mental space I’ve been in since I’ve been in the league,” Diggs explained. “If I’m not in a good space, obviously, that’s not the best for me. So that’s when things had to start shaking out.”
Brady’s new-look offense and Diggs’ lack of involvement took a toll on him.
“The games looked a lot different,” Diggs said. “You can blame me. I don’t mind blaming me. I got big-ass shoulders. But pay attention, pay real close attention. Watch the game. Of course, there’s plenty of plays I want back. But there’s a lot of plays that didn’t go my way. I need a lot of things to go right to get the ball. You can’t roll out of bed and get 800 yards in the first eight games. Your best receiver’s doing that.
“You tell me about the last 10. What changed? Were there changes going on? I just pay attention to what really happened and not what people try to act like happened. Like, for the last 10 games, I forgot how to (expletive) play football?”
Diggs got a fresh start with the Texans, with an opportunity to play with rising star C.J. Stroud and form the NFL’s best wide receiver trio with Nico Collins and Tank Dell.
“He’s one of those kids that can be the MVP, and I’m saying that wholeheartedly,” Diggs said of Stroud. “I don’t gas.”
In his first four games with the Texans, Diggs ranks second on the team with 25 receptions for 233 receiving yards, trailing Nico Collins in both. He also added the first rushing touchdown of his career on a broken play in their Week 4 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars.
.@stefondiggs takes the handoff for his 1st career rushing TD!
📺: #JAXvsHOU on CBS/Paramount+
📱: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/t6zbg6u5At— NFL (@NFL) September 29, 2024
Meanwhile, without Diggs, Allen has emerged as the MVP favorite while throwing seven TD with zero interceptions through Week 4. Even after a rough loss to Baltimore, his 0.28 EPA per dropback ranked second in the NFL entering October behind Jayden Daniels.
Buffalo has also spread the ball around more, with four different players accounting for 100+ receiving yards and six different players catching a TD. The latter is tied with the Vikings for the most players to catch a TD this season.
Looking Ahead to the Week 5 Reunion
The Bills and Diggs reunite for the first time in Week 5 in Houston. Looking ahead to the matchup, Allen said he still had a lot of love for his former top receiver
"I got a lot of love for him. I still do. The things he did for me in my career and the things he did in a Buffalo Bill uniform won't be forgotten anytime soon, especially from me."
-Josh Allen on Stefon Diggs#BillsMafia @BuffaloPlus pic.twitter.com/hcT2mqmkEW
— Dan Fetes (@danfetes) October 2, 2024
On the opposite side, Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans admitted that “it is always in the back of your mind” facing a former team, and that “[staying] focused and locked in” would be important for Diggs. C.J. Stroud also supported his receiver ahead of the reunion, saying he thought he was “clicking more and more every game” with Diggs.
CJ Stroud on Stefon Diggs & his fit with the Texans thus far:
“I think he got a bad rap. I’m very happy for him. He’s having fun playing the game.” pic.twitter.com/ZD3KNGntsv
— Houston Stressans (@TexansCommenter) October 3, 2024
Entering the week, the Bills and Texans ranked third and fourth respectively in shortest odds to win the AFC, per DraftKings Sportsbook. So while Sunday provides a lookahead to a juicy reunion, it’s also a potential playoff preview between teams with Super Bowl aspirations.