Remember when I said that the Stefon Diggs drama wasn’t going anywhere? A week after it started, it has returned to the news cycle. This time, we may have an answer to the mystery surrounding the allegedly squashed beef between Diggs and someone inside the Bills’ circle.
According to FS1’s Craig Carton, Diggs is frustrated that the Bills asked him to restructure his contract in March for what Diggs hoped would be a shot at landing DeAndre Hopkins. Diggs restructured his deal, but Buffalo didn’t land the former All-Pro wide receiver.
“Stefon Diggs is frustrated because after he restructured his deal, the Bills failed to land DeAndre Hopkins,” Carton said on FS1 on Monday.
"Stefon Diggs is frustrated because after he restructured his deal the Bills failed to land DeAndre Hopkins."
— The Carton Show (@TheCartonShow) June 19, 2023
— @craigcartonlive pic.twitter.com/ctYEKPTret
So, Stefon Diggs wanted the Bills to go get another wide receiver. In this case, DeAndre Hopkins. However, Hopkins hasn’t even taken a visit with the Bills, to this point, anyway. That made Diggs angry because he restructured his deal, clearing $5.4 million in cap space for the Bills, under the impression that Buffalo would use that cap space to improve the team.
If Carton’s report is accurate, I can’t blame Diggs.
Buffalo needs to catch up to their Super Bowl expectations in recent seasons. It was evident that Stefon Diggs felt extremely disappointed about the defeat against the Bengals in the AFC divisional round of the previous season. Video footage showed Diggs extending his arms in frustration. He gazed at Allen sitting on the bench as snowflakes descended, conveying that Buffalo’s season was slipping away. After the game, Diggs wasted no time. He bolted from the Bills’ locker room with all of his possessions before some of the coaching staff made it up the tunnel. According to The Athletic’s Joe Buscaglia, Diggs was stopped by practice squad running back Duke Johnson near the exit. Diggs returned to the Bills’ locker room but exited again shortly after.
Aside from making the Bills a better team, signing Hopkins would have helped take some of the constant double teams away from Diggs in 2023. Diggs’ 484 targets since he arrived in Buffalo are the second most in the NFL during that span. Only Davante Adams has seen a more significant workload. It’s entirely fair that Diggs would want the Bills to add a receiver on the other side to allow more of those looks to be in single coverage.
It’s better for Diggs, and it’s better for the Bills. Diggs thought that he conveyed that when he restructured his deal.
Of course, there’s still time to make it happen. Hopkins hasn’t signed with anyone, and to our knowledge, he has only met with the Titans and Patriots. Buffalo could make a run at Hopkins. It would improve their team and make their start wide receiver happy.
