The Bills have traded Stefon Diggs, and they didn’t get all that much for him. They’re sending him to Houston, in exchange for a 2025 second round pick. As part of the deal, the Texans also receive a sixth-round pick in the upcoming draft, as well as a fifth-rounder next year.
The second-round pick the Bills receive originally belonged to Minnesota. With the Vikings looking like the last-place team in the NFC North, it will be probably be something like 40th overall.
Clearly, the driver for Buffalo here was getting rid of an unhappy locker-room headache. Through some combination of his role and the structure of the offense, Diggs didn’t want to play for the Bills. He’ll count $31 million against their cap this year, while he’ll count $19 million for Houston.
The trade puts Buffalo in the market for a wide receiver. As things stand, they’ve got Khalil Shakir, free-agent pickup Curtis Samuel and not much else. If they don’t add a wide receiver who would be their No. 1 guy, then I will be going into drafts very interested in those two receivers, along with pass-catching tight end Dalton Kincaid. Kincaid would be looking like a top-5 tight end.
I will credit the Texans for putting the foot on the gas. They’re going for it. Previously, they signed Danielle Hunter (one of the plums of free agency), along with two other defenders to contracts averaging over $10 million. They traded for Joe Mixon. The Diggs trade ensures that they’ll always have a couple of good pass catchers around C.J. Stroud.
But I’m not crazy about the deal for the Texans. They already have a pair of young, up-and-coming receivers. Nico Collins might be better than Diggs, and Tank Dell might be nearly as good. How is Diggs going to respond when he doesn’t think he’s getting the ball enough? He complained his way out of both Minnesota and Buffalo. He’s 30.
I don’t know what the expected price tags will be on these receivers. My early guess is that Diggs will be the first Houston receiver selected in most drafts, but that I would rather have Collins. And I fear that Diggs will result in Dell not being used as much as he should.
Using PPR scoring, both Collins and Dell averaged top-20 numbers last year. (The chart below shows the most productive receivers from the 2023 season, using not cumulative stats but per-game production; players must have started at least half the season to be considered.)
| TOP 30 PER-GAME RECEIVERS FROM 2023 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rk | Player | St | No | Yds | Run | TD | PPR |
| 1. | CeeDee Lamb, Dall. | 17 | 7.9 | 102.9 | 6.6 | .84 | 24.0 |
| 2. | Tyreek Hill, Mia. | 16 | 7.4 | 112.4 | .9 | .81 | 23.7 |
| 3. | Keenan Allen, LAC | 13 | 8.3 | 95.6 | .5 | .54 | 21.1 |
| 4. | Amon-Ra St. Brown, Det. | 16 | 7.4 | 94.7 | 1.5 | .63 | 20.8 |
| 5. | Justin Jefferson, Min. | 10 | 6.8 | 107.4 | -1.2 | .50 | 20.4 |
| 6. | Puka Nacua, LAR | 17 | 6.2 | 87.4 | 5.2 | .35 | 17.6 |
| 7. | • Nico Collins, Hou. | 15 | 5.3 | 86.5 | .5 | .56 | 17.4 |
| 8. | A.J. Brown, Phi. | 17 | 6.2 | 85.6 | .0 | .41 | 17.3 |
| 9. | Deebo Samuel, S.F. | 14 | 4.1 | 62.2 | 15.3 | .86 | 17.0 |
| 10. | DJ Moore, Chi. | 17 | 5.6 | 80.2 | 1.2 | .53 | 17.0 |
| 11. | Mike Evans, T.B. | 17 | 4.6 | 73.8 | .0 | .76 | 16.6 |
| 12. | JaMarr Chase, Cin. | 16 | 6.3 | 76.0 | -.4 | .44 | 16.4 |
| 13. | Brandon Aiyuk, S.F. | 15 | 4.8 | 87.8 | .0 | .47 | 16.4 |
| 14. | Stefon Diggs, Buff. | 17 | 6.3 | 69.6 | .3 | .49 | 16.2 |
| 15. | Michael Pittman, Ind. | 16 | 6.8 | 72.0 | .0 | .29 | 15.8 |
| 16. | Davante Adams, L.V. | 17 | 6.1 | 67.3 | .0 | .47 | 15.6 |
| 17. | Amari Cooper, Cle. | 15 | 4.8 | 83.3 | .0 | .36 | 15.3 |
| 18. | • Tank Dell, Hou. | 11 | 4.3 | 64.5 | 4.6 | .64 | 15.0 |
| 19. | Chris Olave, N.O. | 16 | 5.4 | 70.2 | .0 | .33 | 14.5 |
| 20. | DeVonta Smith, Phi. | 16 | 5.1 | 66.6 | .0 | .44 | 14.4 |
| 21. | Jaylen Waddle, Mia. | 14 | 5.1 | 72.4 | .9 | .29 | 14.2 |
| 22. | DK Metcalf, Sea. | 16 | 4.1 | 69.6 | .0 | .50 | 14.1 |
| 23. | Cooper Kupp, LAR | 12 | 4.9 | 61.4 | -.3 | .44 | 13.7 |
| 24. | Adam Thielen, Car. | 17 | 6.1 | 59.6 | .4 | .25 | 13.6 |
| 25. | Jayden Reed, G.B. | 16 | 4.0 | 49.6 | 7.4 | .65 | 13.6 |
| 26. | Calvin Ridley, Jac. | 17 | 4.5 | 59.8 | 1.4 | .49 | 13.5 |
| 27. | Rashee Rice, K.C. | 16 | 4.9 | 58.6 | -.2 | .44 | 13.4 |
| 28. | Jakobi Meyers, L.V. | 16 | 4.4 | 50.4 | 1.5 | .63 | 13.4 |
| 29. | DeAndre Hopkins, Ten. | 17 | 4.4 | 62.2 | .5 | .41 | 13.2 |
| 30. | Jordan Addison, Min. | 17 | 4.1 | 53.6 | .1 | .59 | 13.0 |
—Ian Allan