Since their exit from the Divisional Round of the NFL playoffs in 2023, it hasn’t been all sunshine and rainbows for the Buffalo Bills organization. The tumultuous state of the organization began on the day in question, when the Cincinnati Bengals went into Buffalo, New York, and thumped the Bills at home.
The game was highlighted by bouts of inconsistency and flat-out getting whooped on both sides of the ball in the trenches. The Bengals were the more physical football team on offense and defense, and the game was never really a contest.
Bills QB Josh Allen did not have one of his best days under center. Compounding the issues was the fact that alpha receiver Stefon Diggs was vehemently going off on the Bills’ franchise signal-caller. Diggs’s frustration boiled over into the offseason, and reports surfaced to suggest he remained unhappy and wouldn’t report to training camp.
Bills head coach Sean McDermott expressed various degrees of concern. Eventually, the mercurial Diggs returned to Buffalo’s locker room, declaring that everything was fine and that rampant speculation of his displeasure was greatly exaggerated and reporting around the story was inaccurate.
Flash forward a few months, and the Bills appear to be on shaky ground. Buffalo’s offense is wildly inconsistent, and the Bills just dropped Sunday’s game against a vastly overmatched New England Patriots organization. With discontent in the Buffalo organization, could changes be on the horizon?
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Will the Buffalo Bills Deal Stefon Diggs Before the NFL Trade Deadline?
It’s highly unlikely the Bills will trade Diggs, and there are several reasons why. For starters, let’s begin with the production on the field.
Diggs is on pace for over 1,500 yards and has already eclipsed the 100-yard mark in five games this season. He’s the top pass-catching target for Buffalo, and it’s not remotely close. The Bills’ desire to develop a proper secondary option has failed with inconsistent performances from Gabe Davis and Dalton Kincaid.
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Diggs himself has also made it clear he does not want to be traded. Replying to a segment from Stephen A. Smith on First Take, Diggs refuted that he wanted out of Buffalo on social media.
100% not true. I don’t know who the source 😒 is but I thought i nip this shit in the bud already.
— DIGGS (@stefondiggs) August 21, 2023
If the Bills were to trade Diggs, how could they replace the void left behind when he exits?
Buffalo has no in-house replacements, and for a team whose contending window is now, trading a veteran receiver for draft capital doesn’t fit their timeline. Even if they were to consider that, what type of draft picks would teams send for a soon-to-be 30-year-old receiver?
Finally, let’s examine the financials of a potential trade involving Diggs.
Diggs’ current contract has him counting for more than $27 million against the cap in 2024, 2025, and 2026. It dips down a little to $22.549 million in 2027, but we’re still talking cap figures of around $100 million.
The good news is that a large portion of that comes in salary and roster bonuses, all of which would travel with Diggs to the new team. However, there would be some short-term pain for the Bills in terms of financial ramifications.
Trading Diggs this season would accelerate $31.1 million of dead money onto the cap, increasing his cap number by $4 million to have him play for someone else. The Bills may decide that adding $4 million to their cap to save $70 million in cash in the long run makes sense.
The question will be whether what the coaches are seeing so far in 2023, combined with their injury woes, would be enough for them to punt on this season and severely hamstring themselves for next year.
It’s tough to see the Bills willing to swallow those numbers in 2024 while they’re still very much in play in the AFC. A couple of wins and some dominant performances and the entire narrative could change.
Trading their best-skill position weapon now would severely reduce any chance Buffalo has of making a deep run into the playoffs this season.