NFL insider dishes on major cause of Stefon Diggs' breakup with Buffalo Bills
Stefon Diggs finished his four-year tenure with the Buffalo Bills in the 2024 NFL offseason after failing to beat the Kansas City Chiefs yet again. The veteran wide receiver had a strong impact at the beginning of his stint, but his participation decreased as the years passed and the offense changed.
Ahead of his reunion with the Bills this Sunday, ESPN's NFL insider Jeremy Fowler reported that a team source said the offense didn't need Diggs.
"But to be sure, this divorce did not come out of nowhere. 'Tremendous player,' a team source said. 'But the offense didn't need him anymore.'"
The report noted that the 2022 departure of the Bills' receivers coach, Chad Hall, was "a point of contention" in this relationship. After the Bills' offense favored the run over the pass, speculation about the team's not wanting to include Stefon Diggs in the offense surfaced. Team sources said this decision responded to the team personnel and how they could maximize it.
"We still attempted to try to get him the ball," a source said. "It's more about philosophy, [Brady and McDermott's] brand, what's most effective holistically for the offense. Teams know where you're going in terms of go-to guys. You have to spread that thing out, have flexibility."
Diggs played 66 games with the Bills, tallying 445 catches for 5,372 yards and 37 touchdowns. His best season came in 2020 when he got 127 receptions for 1,535 yards and eight touchdown receptions. Diggs had previously spent five years with the Minnesota Vikings (2015-2019) before being traded for a plethora of draft picks in 2020.
Josh Allen shared his thoughts on Stefon Diggs' departure from Bills
After forming a terrific tandem in four years, Josh Allen and Stefon Diggs went their separate ways, with the wide receiver landing in Houston to join forces with CJ Stroud. On the 'Green Light with Chris Long' podcast in August, Allen opened up on his time with Diggs and what it meant to him to play with the wideout.
“Even going back to last year, we had a lot of fun too," Allen said. “I know that people can say what they want to say but we had a lot of success and a lot of fun doing it on and off the field. We were very much like this. So, I hate how it ended but at some point, everything comes to an end.”
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They will see each other this Sunday at 1 p.m. ET at NRG Stadium, with both teams trying to improve to 4-1.