The Houston Texans continued to make waves across the NFL by trading for four-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Stefon Diggs from the Buffalo Bills on Wednesday,
Houston will receive Diggs, the 189th overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, and a fifth-round pick in the 2025 draft from Buffalo in exchange for a 2025 second-round pick.
“I want to thank Stef for four really good seasons after we traded for him in the COVID year,” Bills general manager Brandon Beane told the media in Buffalo during a press conference on Wednesday. “We really appreciate everything he brought to the team, and he was a big part of us winning four division titles. These moves are never easy … but any time you make a move like this, you’re doing it and trying to win. This is by no means the Bills giving up, taking a step back, or anything like that.”
The move gives Houston and reigning Offensive Rookie of the Year CJ Stroud a legitimate and accomplished No.1 receiver for their offense, joining a stacked group of young pass-catchers that already included Nico Collins, Tank Dell, Xavier Hutchinson, John Metchie III, as well as veteran tight end Dalton Schultz and veteran receivers Robert Woods and Noah Brown.
Houston will be Diggs’s third NFL team. The Minnesota Vikings drafted him in the fifth round of the 2015 NFL Draft, and he quickly established himself as an elite weapon. Minnesota traded him to Buffalo in 2020, where he quickly developed chemistry with quarterback Josh Allen as the Bills became one of the elite teams in the AFC.
His departure should leave plenty of questions in Buffalo, which now has a weak spot at receiver with the departures of Diggs and Gabe Davis leaving Curtis Samuel and Khalil Shakir as the top players on the roster at the position.
According to ESPN, the trade leaves Buffalo on the hook for $31.096 million in dead cap next season, the highest known amount for a receiver in league history. That leaves the Bills with just about $4.2 million remaining in cap space to address the void via remaining free agents and/or the 2024 NFL Draft, held in Detroit later this month.
Notable free agents still available include former Dallas Cowboy Michael Gallup, Odell Beckham Jr, Allen Robinson, Chase Claypool, Tyler Boyd, Michael Thomas, and Hunter Renfrow.
The Bills currently hold the 28th overall pick in the 2024 Draft, where their receiver options could include players like LSU’s Brian Thomas, Oregon’s Troy Franklin, and Texas’ Adonai Mitchell, among others. It is considered a deep draft class at the position, so Buffalo could add multiple pass-catchers with its draft capital.
“No matter what happens in the draft, we’ll continue to monitor who’s available now and who’s available after the draft,” Beane said. “… It’s about making the offense the most dynamic we can, and we’ll continue to work on that.”
