Stefon Diggs

NFL Active Leaders In Career Earnings

July 13th, 2024 at 10:00pm CST by Ben Levine

Kirk Cousins‘ four-year, $180MM deal with the Falcons this season vaulted him up the list of active career earners. This was by virtue of his $50MM signing bonus, adding to the more than $231MM he earned from the Commanders and (mostly) the Vikings throughout his career. Even under the worst-case scenario, Cousins will still see at least another $50MM come his way via his contract with Atlanta, which would push his career earnings north of $331MM.

While the soon-to-be 36-year-old Cousins will surely see a significant portion of the $80MM worth of unguaranteed money on his contract, he’ll still be hard pressed to catch Aaron Rodgers on the career-earnings list. Rodgers earned more than $306MM during his long tenure in Green Bay, and he’s already made close to $37MM during his one season in New York (mostly via the $35MM signing bonus on his reworked pact).

With at least $40MM of additional guarantees coming his way from the Jets, Rodgers will continue to grow his lead as the highest-earning NFL player of all time. Both Rodgers and Matthew Stafford were able to leap Tom Brady among the NFL’s highest all-time earners over the past year.

With all that said, we’ve listed the 25 active players who have earned the most money in their NFL careers (h/t to OverTheCap.com). While this list is up to date, it doesn’t account for soon-to-realized salaries for the 2024 campaign. This list is also solely focused on NFL cash and does not include off-the-field earnings:

QB Aaron Rodgers: $343MM
QB Matthew Stafford: $328MM
QB Russell Wilson: $305MM
QB Kirk Cousins: $281MM
QB Jared Goff: $234MM
LB Von Miller: $179MM
QB Joe Flacco: $177MM
OT Trent Williams: $171MM
QB Derek Carr: $165MM
LB Khalil Mack: $162MM
QB Dak Prescott: $161MM
DL Aaron Donald: $157MM
QB Jimmy Garoppolo: $150MM
DE Calais Campbell: $143MM
QB Deshaun Watson: $142MM
QB Patrick Mahomes: $136MM
DE Joey Bosa: $134MM
DL Leonard Williams: $134MM
WR Mike Evans: $132MM
QB Carson Wentz: $130MM
WR DeAndre Hopkins: $128MM
WR Stefon Diggs: $126MM
DE Cameron Jordan: $126MM
OT Lane Johnson: $121MM
DT Chris Jones: $120MM

Texans WR Stefon Diggs Expected To Be Traded By Bills?

June 8th, 2024 at 10:48pm CST by Adam La Rose

One of the most impactful moves of the offseason for both the Bills and Texans was the trade which sent Stefon Diggs from Buffalo to Houston. The deal came about in short order with the Pro Bowl wideout’s former team originally expecting to keep him for at least the 2024 campaign.

Diggs himself seems to have had a different outlook on that front, however. When speaking to the media for the first time as a member of the Texans, he addressed the end of his Bills tenure. The 30-year-old said of a trade, via ESPN’s DJ Bien-Aime, that he felt “it was going in that direction.”

Tension (real or perceived) between team and player was a regular occurrence in the case of Diggs’ four-year run in Buffalo. He still managed to enjoy plenty of success there with 5,372 yards and 37 touchdowns, production which led to four straight Pro Bowl invites and a first-team All-Pro nod in 2020. Once the Texans presented a trade package involving a 2025 second-round pick, though, the Bills elected to move on.

In doing so, Buffalo incurred a dead cap charge of just over $31MM. General manager Brandon Beane has since confirmed the team’s preference was to absorb that record-breaking amount (for receivers) all at once rather than spreading it out over multiple years. While that approach will create considerable spending power in 2025, questions have been raised about the Bills’ receiver room this year.

By contrast, the Texans have added Diggs to a unit already featuring Tank Dell – who had a strong rookie campaign when healthy last season – and Nico Collins. The latter had a breakout season in 2023, and it earned him a lucrative extension. Diggs was attached to a big-ticket deal of his own, but Houston agreed to remove the post-2024 years of his contract. The former fifth-rounder is thus on track for free agency next offseason, and much of his value will depend on his ability to fit in well with his new team. Diggs’ remarks in that regard have been encouraging early on.

“They’re very welcoming,” he said of the Texans. “Very open arms, and I just feel like it’s important for me to be a part of things like that. It’s genuine. You thrive in that space. You thrive in a space where you’re loved. Thrive in a space of being around those who truly care and truly want to see you win.”

Bills GM Brandon Beane Addresses Stefon Diggs Trade

May 28th, 2024 at 3:10pm CST by Adam La Rose

The Bills’ receiver room was positioned to undergo change during the early portion of free agency with Gabe Davis expectedly departing on the open market. Buffalo followed that up with the blockbuster deal which sent Stefon Diggs to the Texans.

The Bills originally intended to keep Diggs in the fold for at least one more season, viewing the 30-year-old as still being capable of producing like a No. 1. However, the Texans’ willingness to acquire Diggs (with a return including a 2025 second-round pick) changed Buffalo’s approach. The latter team took on a dead money charge of just over $31MM to move on from Diggs.

Buffalo could have spread that charge out over multiple seasons, but doing so would have limited the team’s spending power in consecutive offseasons. When speaking about the trade, Bills general manager Brandon Beane confirmed an upfront approach with respect to dead money was the team’s preference once the decision was made to move on from Diggs.

“A player of his caliber, you weigh a lot of things in those situations,” Beane said during an appearance on The Athletic Football Show (video link). “But ultimately, we just talked about the cap. I don’t need to go through all the reasons why we decided to go ahead and do that. 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. And not next year.

“Because 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.'”

The Bills have added a number of new faces at the receiver spot this offseason, including Curtis Samuel, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Mack Hollins and Chase Claypool. After trading out of the first round, Buffalo also added Keon Coleman with a selection endorsed by quarterback Josh Allen. Those newcomers, along with returnee Khalil Shakir, will be counted on to replace Diggs and Davis’ production.

Of course, Diggs is now on track for free agency next offseason with Houston having removed the post-2024 years of his contract. The four-time Pro Bowler’s level of play with the Texans will be a key storyline related to this trade, as will its financial implications (or lack thereof, regarding future years) from the Bills’ perspective.

Texans Remove Final Three Seasons From Stefon Diggs’ Contract

April 5th, 2024 at 3:04pm CST by Sam Robinson

APRIL 5: One benefit from this unexpected move will come in the form of 2024 cap space. The Texans replaced the Diggs years with three void years, adding a fourth to spread out the wide receiver’s cap hit through 2027. Diggs’ 2024 cap number has dropped to $5.88MM, ESPN.com’s Field Yates tweets. A restructure could have created this cap space as well, and the Texans now have a $16.64MM dead money number — in the event Diggs does not sign an extension before the 2025 league year — staring at them.

APRIL 4: A day after trading for Stefon Diggs, the Texans are making an interesting adjustment to the Pro Bowl wide receiver’s contract. Diggs’ Bills-constructed deal ran through 2027; that is no longer the case.

The Texans are removing the 2025, 2026 and 2027 season from the contract, ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter reports. Diggs is now set to become a free agent in 2025. The Texans moved $3.5MM in 2025 guarantees up to 2024, running that amount to $22.52MM. This was a mutual decision, The Athletic’s Dianna Russini tweets.

Teams do not exactly make a habit of ceding contractual control, so nixing three years of a high-profile player’s contract represents an unusual development. The Texans will certainly ensure Diggs is motivated to succeed in 2024, as a fourth contract would stand to await him next year. But they now run the risk of losing the six-time 1,000-yard receiver after one season.

Houston does, however, hold exclusive negotiating rights with Diggs until March 2025. The parties could work out another deal. Unless something is already in place, the team has introduced a unnecessary risk into this equation. As SI.com’s Albert Breer notes, Diggs checking in with a $22.5MM cap number would spike his 2025 franchise tag figure north of $27MM. That would make a tag prohibitive for Houston. Because the Texans adjusted Diggs’ deal, they would not be entitled to a compensatory pick if he departs in 2025.

The Bears did not adjust Keenan Allen‘s contract upon trading for the longtime Chargers WR, who drew interest from the Texans. While teams have made trade-and-extend moves for wideouts in the recent past — Tyreek Hill, A.J. Brown, Davante Adams each signed new deals upon being moved in 2022 — those players all had one season left on their previous contracts or, in Adams’ case, were franchise-tagged. Diggs was tied to a four-year, $96MM deal that featured four remaining years, separating this decision from those early-2020s calls.

When the Bills acquired Diggs from the Vikings in 2020, he remained on his Minnesota contract — a $14.4MM-per-year deal that ran through the 2024 season — over his first two Buffalo seasons. The Bills and Diggs huddled up on the above-referenced $24MM-per-year deal in 2022, and the extension years were just set to begin. Diggs, 30, now has an unexpected opportunity to become a first-time free agent next year.

At the time of the trade Wednesday morning, it appears the Texans would have Diggs’ $24MM-AAV contract aligned with C.J. Stroud‘s remaining rookie-deal seasons. Stroud must be kept on a rookie contract through at least 2025. The Texans had the ability to easily escape from Diggs’ deal after the 2024 season. While removing these years could reignite Diggs — who offered a low-wattage conclusion to his 2023 season — a rebound season would also stand to up his value ahead of free agency. That would work against Houston, even if Stroud presents a nice drawing card for the nine-year veteran.

As it stands, the Texans certainly appear confident they will be able to retain Diggs beyond 2024. If not, they sent a Vikings-obtained second-round pick to Buffalo for one year of Diggs, who will turn 31 in November.

Bills Trade WR Stefon Diggs To Texans

April 3rd, 2024 at 10:19pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Stefon Diggs era in Buffalo will end after four seasons. The AFC East champions are trading the star wide receiver to the Texans, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reports. Both teams have since announced the trade.

The Bills will receive a 2025 second-round pick, according to Schefter, who adds the Texans will pick up Diggs, a 2025 fifth-round pick and a 2024 sixth. This will bring a decorated but mercurial period to a close for the Bills and Diggs. The 2025 second-rounder originally belonged to the Vikings, who packaged it in a deal to acquire the Texans’ No. 23 overall pick this year.

It will also arm C.J. Stroud with a high-end weapon. With Stroud on a rookie contract, the Texans are bringing in one of the NFL’s most lucrative receiver deals. This move comes after the Texans had considered trading for Keenan Allen. Both high-end wideouts have six 1,000-yard seasons on their respective resumes, but Diggs — at 30 — is more than a year younger.

This, of course, marks the second time Diggs has been dealt in his career. The first such trade changed the Bills’ trajectory. Josh Allen‘s path to stardom reached a clear pivot point when the Bills acquired Diggs during the 2020 offseason. They landed the five-year Vikings wideout for a package headlined by a first-round selection. With Diggs set to turn 31 later this year and tied to a big-ticket contract, his price tag dropped.

Buffalo kept Diggs on his Minnesota-constructed contract for two seasons but handed out a four-year, $96MM deal during the 2022 offseason. Four years remain on that contract. While Diggs’ deal sits fifth in terms of wide receiver AAV, the Texans do not have too much money allocated to their skill positions. Diggs’ contract will overlap with Tank Dell and Nico Collins‘ rookie pacts. In clear rebuilding mode to start Nick Caserio‘s GM tenure, the Texans went into last year without any payment north of $7MM at the skill positions. They have now re-signed Dalton Schultz (three years, $36MM) and signed up to add Diggs, who will join Joe Mixon as a trade pickup in Houston.

For Buffalo, this will certainly mark a sea change. Diggs ripped off four straight 1,100-plus-yard seasons with the Bills. That included two 1,400-yard years. The elite route runner gave the Bills a bona fide No. 1 target after they had lacked one for the better part of the 21st century. The addition rocketed Allen onto the superstar tier. The Bills ventured to the AFC championship game in Diggs’ first year in New York, winning their first playoff games since 1995. Diggs, of course, was not the sole reason for Buffalo’s resurgence. But he played one of the central roles.

While the Texans are set to roll out a Diggs-Dell-Collins receiver trio, the Bills have now lost Diggs and Gabe Davis this offseason. Buffalo did add Curtis Samuel and saw Khalil Shakir make key contributions down the stretch, but it appears likely the AFC power will need to come out of the draft with a major WR pickup. Fortunately, this year brings another deep crop at the position. Considering their Super Bowl window ahead of Allen’s age-28 season, this trade certainly ramps up the pressure on the Sean McDermott–Brandon Beane duo.

Diggs’ Bills relationship both traversed rocky terrain and ended on a low note. A confusing situation developed at minicamp last year, with Diggs leaving the team’s facility unexpectedly. McDermott referred to the exit as an excused absence, but he also called the Diggs situation “very concerning.” Allen attempted to downplay the matter, and Diggs soon said he wanted to finish his career in Buffalo. This all came after Diggs stormed out of the Bills’ locker room and needed to be brought back following the team’s divisional-round loss to the Bengals last year. A report indicated Diggs was frustrated by his role in Buffalo’s offense, one that had consistently featured him as the lead weapon. Diggs later denied that was the case.

As last season progressed, Diggs also became a lesser part of the Bills’ offense. As the team regrouped following a 5-5 start — one that led to Ken Dorsey‘s firing and Joe Brady‘s elevation to OC — Diggs did not offer WR1-level production. Allen needed to rely on Shakir and a James Cook-powered run game to drag the Bills to their fourth straight AFC East title. Diggs finished with 1,183 yards but only eclipsed 50 in two of Buffalo’s final seven games. Diggs added a crucial drop late in the Bills’ narrow divisional-round loss to the Chiefs; he caught just three passes for 21 yards in that 27-24 defeat.

This move will also be financially punitive for the Bills. Due to signing bonus proration, the team will be hit with more than $31MM in dead money. While the second-round pick being acquired will be important, Buffalo will see this money accelerate onto its 2024 salary cap due to the deal being finalized before June 1. In terms of single-season dead cap hits, Diggs’ ranks fifth in NFL history (h/t Spotrac). For non-QBs, the $31MM hit sets a record.

Rather than restructure Diggs’ deal to create cap space, the Bills are taking on considerable pain now. That will increase an uphill battle for a Bills team that has also moved on from Mitch Morse, Jordan Poyer and Tre’Davious White this offseason. Diggs’ $18.5MM 2024 base salary is guaranteed. Beyond that, Houston has some flexibility.

At the other end of the spectrum, the Texans are spending in a way they have not under Caserio. The Bill Belichick disciple has greenlit this Diggs deal following the Schultz re-up, Mixon trade and a few defensive augmentations — headlined by the near-fully guaranteed Danielle Hunter accord. With Stroud and Will Anderson tied to rookie deals through at least 2025, the Texans are operating with urgency.

As this represents a risk for a Bills team attempting to stay near the AFC’s top tier, the dead money here certainly suggests the organization believed this relationship had run its course. The Texans are not giving up too much for the 10th-year veteran, but they are acquiring a player with some baggage — Diggs clashed with Vikings brass during his final Minnesota year as well — and one coming off an unremarkable finish to last season. Still, Diggs brings an impressive pedigree to Houston. He will now join younger brother Trevon Diggs in Texas; the Texans play both the Bills and Cowboys in 2024.

Texans’ Offer Changed Bills’ Stefon Diggs Plan

April 3rd, 2024 at 2:57pm CST by Sam Robinson

Cutting the cord on a productive but stressful Stefon Diggs period, the Bills are eating the most dead money ever brought on by a wide receiver. They accepted a Texans offer centered around a 2025 second-round pick, effectively resetting at wide receiver during an offseason that had already seen the AFC power part with a few veteran pieces.

The Bills, however, were believed to be planning to keep Diggs for the 2024 season. Despite the headaches the talented wideout had been known to cause, The Athletic’s Joe Buscaglia and Dianna Russini indicate GM Brandon Beane had Diggs in his plans — as he had said previously this offseason (subscription required). While decision-makers often backtrack on such statements via subsequent trades, the Bills were still aiming to retain Diggs as his extension years started.

Given the $31.1MM in dead money hitting Buffalo’s 2024 cap sheet, it makes sense the team was moving forward with the perennial Pro Bowler. But the Texans called about the nine-year veteran Tuesday, per The Athletic, and the Bills discussed the deal to the point ownership was brought in on the matter. Buffalo agreed to the terms this morning, sending Diggs to Houston to team with Nico Collins and Tank Dell around C.J. Stroud‘s rookie contract. As the Texans load up around a rookie contract, the Bills are retooling around their veteran QB accord.

While the structure of Diggs’ 2022 extension will put the Bills in a tough spot this year, the team looks to have viewed a future second-rounder — initially a Vikings pick obtained by the Texans last month — as sufficient value for a player who would have been less likely to fetch such an asset as he aged. Diggs will turn 31 this season. Considering Keenan Allen commanded only a fourth-rounder last month, Diggs bringing back a second-round choice — one tied to a Minnesota team that just lost Kirk Cousins — brought decent value for a player who struggled down the stretch of his age-30 season.

Beane said (via the Buffalo News’ Ryan O’Halloran) the Bills are “by no means” taking a step back, but the four-time reigning division champs have moved on from several longtime starters this offseason. They released seven-year safety starter Jordan Poyer, five-year center bastion Mitch Morse and injury-prone All-Pro cornerback Tre’Davious White. Buffalo also has Micah Hyde, who joined Poyer in being part of Sean McDermott‘s first free agency class, unsigned. The team has a new safety plan, and David Edwards is poised to take over at center. But wide receiver has gone from a top need to a glaring deficiency.

Other Diggs inquiries have come in, Beane said (via ESPN’s Alaina Getzenberg), but the Bills — who parted with a package fronted by a 2020 first-round pick — viewed this one as enough to move on. The calls on Diggs date back to last year, with Beane declining to confirm (via the Boston Sports Journal’s Mike Giardi) if the wide receiver requested a trade. The eighth-year GM informed Josh Allen about the prospect of a trade before it was finalized, Getzenberg adds.

This move guts Allen’s receiving corps. Although the Bills saw promising early returns from 2023 first-round tight end Dalton Kincaid, Diggs and Gabe Davis operated as Allen’s Nos. 1 and 2 wideouts for the past two seasons. That came after Davis’ four-TD game in the 2021 divisional round. Diggs delivered two 1,400-plus-yard seasons as a Bill, leading the NFL in receiving yards upon being acquired in 2020. A notable slump took place to close last season.

Diggs did not score a touchdown over the Bills’ final seven regular-season games and averaged just 41.0 yards per game in that span. He closed the year with a three-catch, 21-yard showing against the Chiefs — a game Davis missed — and dropped a well-placed Allen pass on a potential game-winning drive. This may well have convinced Bills management their top wide receiver was no longer worth the trouble.

Diggs’ antics in the past wore on the Bills, per The Athletic’s Tim Graham, who adds the team’s power brokers were ready to move on. Diggs’ various social media posts were an issue in Minnesota as well; hours before the trade, he also fired off a tweet questioning Allen’s value compared to his own. The mercurial receiver has been seen griping on the sideline, and after he stormed out of the team’s locker room following the Bills’ upset loss to the Bengals in last year’s divisional round, a still-unsolved minicamp controversy surfaced after Diggs left the team’s facility last June. That required some careful management from McDermott, Beane and Allen.

Still, the Bills lost a No. 1 target and cap space. Before the savings from the White post-June 1 cut hit, the Bills are down below $4MM in cap space. The team holds the No. 28 overall pick in this year’s draft. After using its top draft asset to acquire Diggs four years ago, the team will almost definitely dive into another WR-heavy draft to address the position with a cheap contract to align with Allen’s $43MM-AAV deal.

Latest On Stefon Diggs’ Future With Bills

February 3rd, 2024 at 11:03am CST by Ben Levine

After finishing with at least 100 receiving yards in five of his first six games, Stefon Diggs didn’t put up nearly the same numbers through the final three months of the season. In his final 11 regular-season games, Diggs averaged only five catches for 51 yards per contest, and he scored only three touchdowns over that span. Things didn’t get any better in the playoffs, with the Bills wideout hauling in only 73 receiving yards. This includes a playoff loss to the Chiefs where he had a season-low 21 receiving yards and dropped a crucial fourth-quarter pass.

Considering his drop in production, some have speculated that Diggs may be frustrated in Buffalo and looking for a change. Tony Pauline of Sportskeeda.com says that’s not the case, as Diggs isn’t expected to ask for a trade. Diggs discussed his future in Buffalo while attending this week’s Pro Bowl Games, marking the first time he’s talked with reporters since Buffalo was eliminated from the playoffs. The receiver was generally noncommittal about his future, just stating that he’s “ready to go no matter which way it goes.”

“I feel like I take it day by day,” Diggs said (via ESPN’s Stephen Holder). “Obviously, there’s a lot of changes going on, a lot of things going on. I can’t really put the carriage before the horse, you know what I’m saying? But I got a great offseason in front of me to put a lot of work in and kind of build around what we got and what we’re doing.

“I can’t tell you what the future holds, but I’m still being me.”

Diggs is a questionable trade/release candidate just by virtue of his contract. He’ll account for a $27.35MM cap hit next season, and there’s three years remaining on the four-year extension he inked back in 2022. The Bills would face significant dead cap if they cut the veteran, and his incoming salary would likely be untenable for many trade suitors.

As a result, Pete King of Football Morning in America believes that GM Brandon Beane and the Bills front office will ultimately do “major surgery” on the wide receiver’s deal, and the writer suspects that Diggs wouldn’t be happy about that arrangement. Pauline agrees that a restructured Diggs contract would partly help the cap-strapped Bills, but he’s also wary of how that move would impact the player’s attitude.

For what it’s worth, it doesn’t sound like the Bills are particularly anxious to get rid of Diggs. Beane told reporters that he expects the two-time All-Pro receiver to continue leading their depth chart in 2024.

“He’s a No. 1 receiver,” Beane said (via Joe Buscaglia of The Athletic). “I firmly believe that. I’m not wavering off of that. Listen, we have to continue to put weapons out there to keep teams from bracketing him or, you know, locking him down in different ways to take him away.”

AFC East Notes: Becton, Diggs, Dolphins

August 1st, 2023 at 4:07pm CST by Sam Robinson

His place as one of the NFL’s most injury-prone players notwithstanding, Mekhi Becton made some pointed comments when insisting he was a left tackle in May. This forced Robert Saleh to address said comments. Several weeks after predicting he would return to his former spot and win the job, the fourth-year blocker now said (via the New York Post’s Brian Costello) he would be fine playing right tackle again. Becton, who has missed 33 straight regular-season games, said he underwent the wrong surgery to repair his September 2021 knee injury. He indicated he was not fully healed when he went down again, shortly after being moved to right tackle, during the Jets’ 2022 training camp. Becton, who missed time during this year’s camp with more knee trouble, has returned to the field and is expected to play in a limited role in Thursday’s preseason opener, Saleh said.

Duane Brown, 37, has been viewed as the favorite to win the Jets’ left tackle position. But the 16th-year veteran, who underwent shoulder surgery this offseason, remains on the team’s active/PUP list. Billy Turner had received first-team left tackle reps in front of Becton earlier in camp, though the ex-Packers and Broncos right tackle has also been working on the right side with Max Mitchell.

Here is the latest from the AFC East:

The Bills have made a concerted effort to put Stefon Diggs questions in their rearview mirror. The Pro Bowl wide receiver said he is not angling for more say in the team’s play-calling. “For me to just want more say in the offense, it’s crazy because I play receiver,” Diggs said recently. “I don’t care what play is called. I can’t get up there and say, ‘Call this.’ It’s a lot of outlandish, obvious things where people [are] throwing out there or people were saying as far as my role.” A report suggested Diggs was unhappy with his role in Buffalo’s offense. Although Diggs did not say what caused Sean McDermott to send him home from a minicamp day, the ninth-year veteran has since said he was never at odds with Josh Allen and said he and the Bills are on good terms. Diggs’ $24MM-per-year contract runs through 2026.
Although it would seem Mike White had a virtual guarantee to become the Dolphins‘ backup quarterback, he entered camp in a battle with 2022 third-stringer Skylar Thompson for the gig. White signed a two-year, $8MM deal ($4.5MM guaranteed) in March, and the Dolphins were believed to be enamored with the ex-Jet as Tua Tagovailoa insurance. Thompson has extended a promising offseason into training camp, per the Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson, who adds last year’s QB3-turned-emergency starter is being given a legitimate opportunity to become the backup. Considering Tagovailoa’s injury history, Miami’s QB2 post stands as one of the league’s most important reserve spots.
Daron Payne, Jeffery Simmons, Dexter Lawrence and Quinnen Williams have signed long-term deals this offseason, creating a fairly set price range for the Dolphins as they negotiate a Christian Wilkins extension. While the team wants to extend the fifth-year D-tackle and is optimistic on doing so, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler notes no significant momentum has developed in these talks. Wilkins is tied to a $10.75MM fifth-year option salary. The sides have been talking for months.
Dolphins target Cedrick Wilson Jr. has been connected to trade rumors. Multiple reports indicated the team was willing to part with Wilson, who signed a three-year deal worth $22.1MM in March 2022. Dolphins GM Chris Grier said the team is not shopping Wilson, despite reports to the contrary, and the sixth-year receiver said (via Jackson) he is not seeking a trade. Wilson’s $5MM guarantee for 2023 will complicate a trade; the Dolphins would save $7MM by moving him. Wilson did not live up to his contract last year, totaling 136 receiving yards in 15 games. While Trent Sherfield is no longer in the mix, the Dolphins have added Chosen Anderson and Braxton Berrios this offseason.

Stefon Diggs Addresses Issues With Bills; WR Wants To Finish Career With Team

July 26th, 2023 at 11:59am CST by Sam Robinson

Count Stefon Diggs as part of the “let’s move on” sect of Bills regarding a potential dustup between the Pro Bowl wide receiver and the team. Diggs said Wednesday the situation is now “water under the bridge.”

Sean McDermott reiterated Wednesday the team and Diggs are in a good place, and Josh Allen has long said this storyline was overblown. Diggs’ issues with the Bills’ play-calling and his role in the offense are believed to have been behind his June disagreement with McDermott, one that led to the wide receiver being dismissed from the team facility during minicamp. When asked about what caused McDermott to send him home last month, Diggs declined to elaborate (Twitter link via ESPN’s Alaina Getzenberg).

Diggs, 29, answered in the affirmative when asked if he still wanted to retire as a member of the Bills, Getzenberg tweets. Four years remain on the star wideout’s contract, a $24MM-per-year deal agreed to during the 2022 offseason. This 2023 saga was not believed to be contract-related, as Diggs remains in the top five for receiver contracts. Since being traded to the Bills in 2020, Diggs has also drawn the second-most targets (484) in the NFL. That target number nearly matches his five-year Vikings total (534), so it is interesting the ninth-year veteran could be dissatisfied with his role in the Bills’ offense.

The former fifth-round pick led the NFL with 1,535 receiving yards in 2020 and topped 1,200 yards in 2021 and ’22. At the conclusion of the Bills’ divisional-round loss to the Bengals in January, however, Diggs stormed out of the locker room before some coaches had arrived and needed to be brought back. It is not known if Diggs harbored issues with the Bills for months leading up to minicamp or if new concerns cropped up, but all parties are now attempting to move forward.

Buffalo also pursued DeAndre Hopkins this offseason, but a rumor about how the former All-Pro would fit in an offense that goes through Diggs and now includes first-round pick Dalton Kincaid — a tight end expected to see extensive slot work — surfaced soon after the Titans landed the high-profile free agent. Nevertheless, Diggs will prepare for his fourth season anchoring Buffalo’s high-octane attack.

Latest On Bills WR Stefon Diggs

July 5th, 2023 at 10:05pm CST by Ben Levine

When we last checked in on the Stefon Diggs situation in Buffalo, quarterback Josh Allen was describing the issue as “not football related” despite contrary reports claiming the wideout was frustrated with his role on offense and a lack of input on play-calling.

Allen was back at it during an appearance on Bussin With the Boys, stating that the media overreacted to Diggs’ psuedo-no-show during the first day of mandatory minicamp.

“The media has blown this so far out of proportion,” Allen said (via Michael David Smith of ProFootballTalk.com). “We are in minicamp. We’re not playing a game for four months. He doesn’t show up for one day, he’s still there, coach asked him to go home, they’re in talks, they’re trying to resolve some things. They’re still talking about it. Let it go. There’s no reason to continue talking about it.”

Diggs didn’t show up for voluntary workouts with the Bills, and he reportedly left the Bills’ first day of mandatory minicamp. Despite Sean McDermott initially telling reporters that he was “very concerned” about the Diggs situation, the coach quickly reversed course, describing his subsequent conversations with the wideout as “great” while excusing the absence.

As Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com notes, the initial report hinted that Diggs left the Bills facility that day, but Allen’s most recent quotes indicate that the receiver may have been sent home by McDermott. Diggs may have been hinting at this mischaracterization on social media, leading Florio to wonder if things are actually okay between the two sides.

Diggs apparent dissatisfaction with the Bills could be tied to his inability to connect with offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey, who replaced Brian Daboll this past season. The wideout still ranked in the top-five in targets (154), receptions (108), yards (1,429), and touchdowns (11) in 2022, but in the team’s final six contests (including playoffs), Diggs was limited to 63 yards per game while hauling in only a single touchdown. After finishing Buffalo’s playoff loss to the Bengals with four catches for 35 yards, Diggs reportedly stormed out of the locker room before coaches arrived and needed to be ushered back in.

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