New England Patriots News & Rumors

We’ve seen relative silence from the NFL league office and the Patriots about a video that shows recent free agent signing Stefon Diggs holding what appears to be a pink substance while on a boat with a number of women.

While the time and date of the video are currently unknown and the substance has yet to be identified, Scott Zolak of 98.5 The Sports Hub ventured that the controversial video could lead to the wide receiver’s exit from the team, per Justin Leger of NBC Sports Boston. Off of this speculation, Mike Florio of NBC Sports reportedly examined Diggs’ contract to see exactly what recourse New England would have if it intended to cut Diggs without absorbing the brunt of the recently signed deal.

Florio posits that the Patriots may have a few avenues that they could address through clauses in his contract. Firstly, any guarantees are contingent on Diggs passing a physical. Considering that Diggs has not been participating in offseason activities because of the torn ACL that ended his 2024 campaign, it stands to reason that he has not been physically cleared yet. If the team physician refuses to clear him, the team could avoid paying a majority of the guarantees in the deal.

Another clause focuses on pre-existing conditions and could help the team to avoid paying $10.6MM of the remaining $12.6MM of guarantees following the first $4MM installation of Diggs’ signing bonus. Either of those two decisions could be challenged with a grievance by Diggs, something the team has seen before when they released Antonio Brown. They had refused to pay Brown $9MM of his signing bonus and ended up settling the grievance with $5MM. Florio suggests that the team could hope for a similar result with Diggs and potentially could avoid paying the majority of the costs in question.

Lastly, Florio points to two areas of the contract that deal with the default language of the contract and a provision stipulating that Diggs would not “participate…in any conduct or activity that is illegal, unlawful, or immoral.” With a league suspension unlikely, it would be hard to prove that Diggs defaulted, and the Patriots would also have to prove what the pink powder is in order to determine if Diggs’ activity was illegal. That doesn’t appear to be likely either.

Ultimately, the team may just dismiss the situation altogether and hold on to their new receiver. If they do decide, though, that they’d like to move on, it appears that there are some avenues New England could explore.

A video of Stefon Diggs went viral earlier this week, as the Patriots wide receiver was recorded flashing an “unidentified pink substance” (per ESPN’s Mike Reiss) while surrounded by women on a yacht. That pink substance has led to plenty of online speculation, and new head coach Mike Vrabel was forced to address the situation today.

“It’s something we’re aware of and obviously we want to make great decisions on and off the field,” Vrabel said (via Reiss). “… Any conversations that I’ve had with Stefon will remain between him and I and the club.”

Vrabel is sticking with his Belichickian upbringing and not revealing too much, but it is still notable that the head coach is already facing off-the-field questions about the headline-stealing receiver. The Patriots inked Diggs to a three-year, $69MM deal this offseason as the wideout continues to recover from his torn ACL.

While the veteran was spotted at a voluntary practice last week, he notably wasn’t in attendance for the start of New England’s OTAs. While an absence from voluntary practices isn’t problematic, this surely some increasing optic issues when taking into account the recent viral video. Vrabel acknowledged that he’s been in contact with Diggs this week, although the coach also admitted that he’s spoken with every player on his roster.

Patriots receivers finished the 2024 campaign last in the NFL with only 1,723 receiving yards. If Diggs is able to even return to his 2023 form (when he finished with 1,188 yards from scrimmage and eight touchdowns), that’d be a huge boon for the Patriots offense. Prior to suffering his season-ending injury in 2024, Diggs’ lone season in Houston saw him haul in 47 catches for 496 yards and three scores.

“The timelines, and the prognosis, we’re working hard to get him back and be ready to go. When he’s here, we’ll coach him and have him ready to go,” Vrabel said of his WR’s recovery.

While the Patriots lack top-end receiver talent, they do have some solid depth, and there should be plenty of competition for the spots this summer. Diggs is a shoo-in to make the squad, and Reiss believes free agent acquisition Mack Hollins, third-year slot receiver DeMario Douglas, and third-round rookie Kyle Williams are also safe. That means the likes of Kendrick Bourne, Kayshon Boutte, and 2024 draft picks Ja’Lynn Polk (second round) and Javon Baker (fourth round) are competing for the remaining spots on the roster.