What’s going on between Stefon Diggs and the Buffalo Bills?
Following his absence at minicamp questions were always going to be raised, but the Bills WR likely didn’t help the situation with his social media post.
Despite comments to the contrary, it would appear that there is some kind of problem between the Bills and their star pass catcher. What exactly it is and how it will be solved remains unclear, but for the moment it appears to not be related to football.
Bills ‘very concerned’ about Stefon Diggs
Though the Buffalo Bills’ mandatory minicamp is now underway, it would appear that not everybody that should be present actually was. Indeed, according to reports, star wide receiver Stefon Diggs was absent on Day 1 of camp, something which head coach Sean McDermott said he was “very concerned” about. It’s worth mentioning, that Diggs’ agent Adisa Bakari addressed the situation on Tuesday, explaining that Diggs had in fact been in Buffalo since Monday morning and had even taken a physical before meeting with both McDermott and general manager, Brandon Beane. Bakari also stated that Diggs “will be there for the entirety of the minicamp.”
As per reports, Diggs is said to have been at the team’s facilities on both Monday and Tuesday morning, however, he did not participate in training on either of the days. It has in fact been reported that Diggs’ situation is not related to any contractual dispute.
Josh Allen speaks about Stefon Diggs’ situation
Following their latest session, Bills quarterback Josh Allen was questioned about the developing situation involving Diggs and while he did give some insight, he did not outrightly specify what was the reason behind Diggs’ absence. “I know internally we’re working on some things. Not football-related, but Stef, he’s my guy,” Allen said. “Excuse my ... I f*****g love him. He’s a brother of mine. This does not work, what we’re doing here, without him. But I’ve got his back no matter what.”
Interestingly, Allen was then asked to give more detail about what he meant regarding the issue not being related to football. “I mean I think it has more to do than just football, is what I’m basically saying,” Allen said. “I think there’s the football piece, one, and then stuff that happens due to football. And I’ll just kind of keep it at that.” Diggs himself broke his silence with a rather cryptic social media post on Tuesday night. “I just be letting people cap. If them lies help you sleep better tell em big dog,” his Instagram story read.
Stefon Diggs up to this point
In case you missed it, Diggs had a sensational run during this most recent campaign. With 108 passes caught for a total of 1,429 yards and a career-high 11 touchdowns across 16 games, he was one of the best in the league. To put it in perspective, Diggs’ contribution made up 29% of the Bills’ receptions in 2022, which was tied for the third-highest in the league last year. Ranked 8th in franchise history with 4,189 receiving yards, Diggs is now in his third season with the Bills.
Where his contract is concerned, it should be said that just last offseason he put pen to paper on a four-year, $104 million extension that includes $70 million guaranteed. The extension tied Diggs to Buffalo for six years at $124.1 million. This March, the Bills restructured Diggs’ contract, converting base salary into a bonus to create $5.4 million in cap space for Buffalo. This is all to say that whatever is happening between the Bills and their star is puzzling to say the least, even more so when we consider the comments of both McDermott and Allen. For the moment, we can only watch this space.