Two years before the Packers traded receiver Davante Adams and the Chiefs traded receiver Tyreek Hill, the Vikings traded receiver Stefon Diggs. The hero of the Minneapolis Miracle wanted out. He got his wish, quickly.
He made his move on the same day Kirk Cousins got a new contract (coincidentally -- or not). In a matter of hours, the Vikings had a deal in place with the Bills.
Two years later, Diggs has the same contract he had when he arrived. The Adams and Hill deals make Hill’s $14.4 million per year contract seem even more obsolete. With Hill getting, as a practical matter, $75 million over the next three years, Diggs may be even more determined to get an upgrade to a deal worth a total $3 million despite attaching two more years.
As noted earlier today, Bills G.M. Brandon Beane has projected confidence, and that’s fine. But he needs to tread lightly. Comments like “we’ve got Stefon for two years” could dare Diggs to respond. With something like, “No you don’t.”
They addressed quarterback Josh Allen’s deal after three years with the team, even though they still had Allen under contract for two more years. Diggs could be thinking, “They didn’t wait for Allen. Why wait for me?”
In the aftermath of the Hill trade, Diggs expressed confusion before uttering a fundamental truth: “It’s always business... never personal.” And it’s definitely business. In the business of football, business is booming for some of the NFL’s best receivers.
Diggs, two years after arriving in Buffalo, is still waiting for his next deal. Comments like “we still hold his rights for two more years” may not be the right way to play it with Diggs. The right way to handle it would be to get him taken care of sooner than later, before he begins to sour on the Bills the way he soured on the Vikings.