Stefon Diggs Thread: Traded to Buffalo!

[murphysxm]

I read Diggs frustration is less about usage. He is uber competitive and doesn't think the team is aggressive enough in getting another complimentary WR. He is pissed he restructured his contract and they didn't use the space to get Hopkins. Of course this is unsubstantiated twitter talk.

[mild]

Diggs isn't going anywhere with that contract.

Fully agreed.

I respect that you guys believe this, but this strikes me as reaching a conclusion while having blinders on. Mild argued that losing him would damage their contending chances too much, which is a stronger argument to me than a pure contract numbers one...

... Unless you guys are referring to something other than the apparent cap hits and savings, I think you're not fully appraising the situation. Hopefully, you're not blinded by the name and big dollar contract. Given the info cited, there's no contract based reason to think Diggs is certainly a Buffalo Bill beyond 2024.

To be clear Pullo - the part that I am dead set on is in response to your original post:

Diggs seems locked in Buffalo for this year, unless things get worse (ie not enough targets) and he goes full Minnesota Diva on them.

You were positing that a full diva meltdown would get him off the team in 2023.

I disagree. It would smash their roster construction to bits, and needlessly so whilst primely in their contention window. They're stuck with riding this out for at least another season.

I definitely agree that this time next year - all bets will be off.

[mild]

I read Diggs frustration is less about usage. He is uber competitive and doesn't think the team is aggressive enough in getting another complimentary WR. He is pissed he restructured his contract and they didn't use the space to get Hopkins. Of course this is unsubstantiated twitter talk.

I liked this theory, but it doesn't pass the smell test, unfortunately.

He converted some of his remaining contract into an up-front bonus. So did other players this offseason, like Josh Allen and Von Miller. It's business as usual, and par for the course.

More to the point - he's still getting the same amount of money, just he got a whole lot of it right now, immediately.

There is nobody in the world who complains about getting more money up front.

[remedy29]

I read Diggs frustration is less about usage. He is uber competitive and doesn't think the team is aggressive enough in getting another complimentary WR. He is pissed he restructured his contract and they didn't use the space to get Hopkins. Of course this is unsubstantiated twitter talk.

I do not buy that he is pissed about not getting Hopkins for a second. There is only so much ego 1 team can have, Diggs wants all the targets.

[murphysxm]

I read Diggs frustration is less about usage. He is uber competitive and doesn't think the team is aggressive enough in getting another complimentary WR. He is pissed he restructured his contract and they didn't use the space to get Hopkins. Of course this is unsubstantiated twitter talk.

I do not buy that he is pissed about not getting Hopkins for a second. There is only so much ego 1 team can have, Diggs wants all the targets.

Diggs wants to win, and is pretty nuts about it. That doesn’t mean he wants all the targets and all the money. He is emotionally immature, but I think winning is his driving force.

[remedy29]

I read Diggs frustration is less about usage. He is uber competitive and doesn't think the team is aggressive enough in getting another complimentary WR. He is pissed he restructured his contract and they didn't use the space to get Hopkins. Of course this is unsubstantiated twitter talk.

I do not buy that he is pissed about not getting Hopkins for a second. There is only so much ego 1 team can have, Diggs wants all the targets.

Diggs wants to win, and is pretty nuts about it. That doesn’t mean he wants all the targets and all the money. He is emotionally immature, but I think winning is his driving force.

Diggs is the 5th highest paid WR. So he certainly wants the money and is getting it.

Diggs forced his way out of Minnesota, in his own words "They only would allow me to do so much. In my eyes, it wasn’t going to be in the best interest of my career."
https://thevikingage.com/2020/12/14/ste ... a-vikings/

Minnesota was 13-3 in 2017 and made it to the NFL championship game while being a run heavy team. In 2018 they were pass happy. In 2019, they hired Zimmer and were going to focus on the run game more. Diggs wanted none of that.

Ego, money, targets. That is what Diggs is about.

I agree he is immature, and perhaps he wants to win, as long as winning means he gets more targets. Because Diggs certainly knows what is best for an offense and how to win, he will tell you all about it.

[Pullo Vision]

Fully agreed.

I respect that you guys believe this, but this strikes me as reaching a conclusion while having blinders on. Mild argued that losing him would damage their contending chances too much, which is a stronger argument to me than a pure contract numbers one...

... Unless you guys are referring to something other than the apparent cap hits and savings, I think you're not fully appraising the situation. Hopefully, you're not blinded by the name and big dollar contract. Given the info cited, there's no contract based reason to think Diggs is certainly a Buffalo Bill beyond 2024.

To be clear Pullo - the part that I am dead set on is in response to your original post:

Diggs seems locked in Buffalo for this year, unless things get worse (ie not enough targets) and he goes full Minnesota Diva on them.

You were positing that a full diva meltdown would get him off the team in 2023.

I disagree. It would smash their roster construction to bits, and needlessly so whilst primely in their contention window. They're stuck with riding this out for at least another season.

I definitely agree that this time next year - all bets will be off.

The way I see it, there are two variables-
1- Is there a limit to how much divaing the team/coaches will tolerate
2- Whether Diggs can reach/exceed that limit this year

I don't know if there will be a low or high tolerance, and don't know if Diggs can hit that ceiling this year. There's different ways to forecast two variables. If Diggs ticks up the divaness without a full on meltdown, and the coaches are tolerant, I'd expect he'll be on the roster. That kind of stance could tolerate an Elijah Moore like "I don't care if we're winning, I want the ball" attitude. If Diggs ups the diva factor, we could anticipate reduced production, but he could still be on the roster. Something along the lines of Brandin Cooks, though without the game day inactives. That doesn't sound that'd be a contentious position to you.

You seem to believe the coaches will have a high tolerance, but contending teams have been known to push out divas. Tampa let Antonio Brown go just when they were priming for a playoff run, the year after winning the Super Bowl. Cooks doesn't have a diva rep, but his last few years as Houston's lead WR are relevant. Brown was a lead WR for Pittsburgh before they washed their hands.

The worst case scenario is the coaches won't tolerate the slightest acting out of line and Diggs has a short fuse. It seems things would have to get completely out of hand to ditch Diggs before or during the season. I agree that would "smash their roster construction to bits", and it'd be hard to see them scheming around Diggs' loss. The rookie TE might be too important in that scenario. But, it doesn't seem you're factoring the potential that the coaches/teammates would have low tolerance for his "antics".

There's been all sorts of twitter discussions on Diggs recently. One poll asked if people thought Buffalo had passed its peak. Think 85% of respondents said they were.

[mild]

You seem to believe the coaches will have a high tolerance, but contending teams have been known to push out divas. Tampa let Antonio Brown go just when they were priming for a playoff run, the year after winning the Super Bowl. Cooks doesn't have a diva rep, but his last few years as Houston's lead WR are relevant. Brown was a lead WR for Pittsburgh before they washed their hands.

The worst case scenario is the coaches won't tolerate the slightest acting out of line and Diggs has a short fuse. It seems things would have to get completely out of hand to ditch Diggs before or during the season. I agree that would "smash their roster construction to bits", and it'd be hard to see them scheming around Diggs' loss. The rookie TE might be too important in that scenario. But, it doesn't seem you're factoring the potential that the coaches/teammates would have low tolerance for his "antics".

There's been all sorts of twitter discussions on Diggs recently. One poll asked if people thought Buffalo had passed its peak. Think 85% of respondents said they were.

We're splitting hairs here over nothing... but hey, it's June, so why not.

Let's not forget: this is basically the exact same roster (with a couple additions) that was the betting favourite to win the AFC this time exactly a year ago. This is a very very good roster. The "passed its peak" thing is just people being knee-jerk. They're right in it as one of the premier AFC powerhouses; just the same as last year. Suggesting the "peak" is just losing to the Chiefs in the Divisional Round is just reactionary nonsense, no matter how true it ends up being. This team is as good a 2023 Superbowl contender as you'll find.

But that's only if they've got Stefon Diggs.

I do believe the leash will be long this year with the coaches, yes. The amount of damage it would do to the team to get rid of him at this stage - with no obvious succession/replacement plan, and at insane cost to their salary cap - all back this up. As does the actions by the coaching staff to this point - why walk back his "extremely concerned" soundbite re. McDermott? Why not stick to your statement and try and make an example of him? Why is Josh Allen immediately singing Diggs' praises as soon as the story picks up media steam? Why are they playing this down as "an internal issue" or a "personal thing" with every chance they get?

Because they're trying (desperately) to not let this get toxic, and because they understand how this public dance works. They know their best chance for success is with Diggs on the field for them this year, and that they don't have a better option. (Cutting Diggs for a $45 million dead cap and then signing Deandre Hopkins from a negotiating leverage position of "extreme need" is not what I count as a "better option")

You mentioned Antonio Brown. Let's not forget the circumstance: this was AB with zero remaining guaranteed money on his deal, and a 50 million dollar extension agreed in principle by Oakland as part of the trade.

It's a little bit different.

[Pullo Vision]

You seem to believe the coaches will have a high tolerance, but contending teams have been known to push out divas. Tampa let Antonio Brown go just when they were priming for a playoff run, the year after winning the Super Bowl. Cooks doesn't have a diva rep, but his last few years as Houston's lead WR are relevant. Brown was a lead WR for Pittsburgh before they washed their hands.

The worst case scenario is the coaches won't tolerate the slightest acting out of line and Diggs has a short fuse. It seems things would have to get completely out of hand to ditch Diggs before or during the season. I agree that would "smash their roster construction to bits", and it'd be hard to see them scheming around Diggs' loss. The rookie TE might be too important in that scenario. But, it doesn't seem you're factoring the potential that the coaches/teammates would have low tolerance for his "antics".

There's been all sorts of twitter discussions on Diggs recently. One poll asked if people thought Buffalo had passed its peak. Think 85% of respondents said they were.

We're splitting hairs here over nothing... but hey, it's June, so why not.

Let's not forget: this is basically the exact same roster (with a couple additions) that was the betting favourite to win the AFC this time exactly a year ago. This is a very very good roster. The "passed its peak" thing is just people being knee-jerk. They're right in it as one of the premier AFC powerhouses; just the same as last year. Suggesting the "peak" is just losing to the Chiefs in the Divisional Round is just reactionary nonsense, no matter how true it ends up being. This team is as good a 2023 Superbowl contender as you'll find.

But that's only if they've got Stefon Diggs.

I do believe the leash will be long this year with the coaches, yes. The amount of damage it would do to the team to get rid of him at this stage - with no obvious succession/replacement plan, and at insane cost to their salary cap - all back this up. As does the actions by the coaching staff to this point - why walk back his "extremely concerned" soundbite re. McDermott? Why not stick to your statement and try and make an example of him? Why is Josh Allen immediately singing Diggs' praises as soon as the story picks up media steam? Why are they playing this down as "an internal issue" or a "personal thing" with every chance they get?

Because they're trying (desperately) to not let this get toxic, and because they understand how this public dance works. They know their best chance for success is with Diggs on the field for them this year, and that they don't have a better option. (Cutting Diggs for a $45 million dead cap and then signing Deandre Hopkins from a negotiating leverage position of "extreme need" is not what I count as a "better option")

You mentioned Antonio Brown. Let's not forget the circumstance: this was AB with zero remaining guaranteed money on his deal, and a 50 million dollar extension agreed in principle by Oakland as part of the trade.

It's a little bit different.

Yep, and Brown was merely Tampa's 3rd WR, so they could more easily take the hit than Buffalo can with Diggs right now. Cooks was Houston's WR1 but the team wasn't exactly a contender. Brown with Pittsburgh is probably the best example of the three.

Completely agree that the poll of whether Buffalo had passed its peak is of questionable value, but interesting nonetheless. Someone else uncovered that, while in Minnesota, multiple teammates said he's the one player they wouldn't want their sister to date. If he was a pain in the locker room then, what is he like now, after he forced his way out of one town once already? Here's a vid- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYY4eP-IOSg

According to Spotrac, a 2023 post 6/1 release would save the team 505k this year, but create a 31m dead hit next year. I'm always surprised by NFL cap gymnastics, but that'd be a hell of a hurdle. If things go off the rails in the locker room this year (that itself is a stretch), I'd figure a Cooks like zombie walk through the season is more likely than getting cut.

I appreciate you engaging in all this, rather than a flippant disregard because you consider the idea ridiculous at first blush.

If Diggs were to be gone next offseason, would be interesting to see the impact on Josh Allen. He got unlocked when Diggs came to town. The FA WR class is decently strong- Higgins, Pittman, Evans, C Ridley, Marq Brown. And that ignores the possibility of others like K Allen or Mike Williams becoming available.

[ericanadian]

I’m not sure the coach is the main decider on whether or not to tolerate a diva receiver. If Josh Allen decides he’s done with Diggs, then Diggs gets shown the door. The Bills have no interest in turfing one malcontent only to create another who is even more essential to their success.