IT WAS NEITHER the biggest nor the most memorable play of the Buffalo Bills’ 2023 season. Ahead 10-7 late in the second quarter at the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 12, Josh Allen took the third-and-6 shotgun snap from the 13-yard line, glanced left, then to the right slot where he knew exactly who he would find. Stefon Diggs had found a tiny void in the Eagles’ zone at the goal line, which is where Allen’s necessarily low and perfect throw found him, sliding in the rain between safety Kevin Byard and linebacker Zach Cunningham. Touchdown.
The Bills would blow a double-digit fourth-quarter lead and lose in overtime. And, as it turns out, that would be Diggs’ 37th and final touchdown as a Bill. The 30-year-old wide receiver with the NFL’s most receptions from 2020 to 2023 would see his opportunities dwindle, even as his team went on a five-game winning streak that took it from 6-6 after the Eagles loss to the AFC East title. Four months and one week after he slid through the rain in Philly, the Bills traded Diggs to the Houston Texans, taking on $31 million of dead salary cap money to move him — the highest known dead cap charge for a wide receiver ever.
Where it went wrong between Diggs and the Bills is not a question that yields a single answer from more than a dozen team, front office and industry sources ESPN contacted for this story. The player is famously mercurial. The team’s level of patience with his personality ebbed and flowed. The offense was headed in a different direction. The ratio of the impact of these three causes on Diggs’ exit depends on who’s doing the talking.
And now comes a reunion between Diggs and Buffalo (Sunday, 1 p.m. ET, CBS) that will likely be professional on the surface. What lies beneath, only the principals can say. Diggs declined comment for this story, as did the Bills.
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.”
Diggs led the NFL with 445 receptions during his four years in Buffalo, ahead of Davante Adams (441) and Tyreek Hill (436). Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images
THE 2020 DEAL that sent Diggs from Minnesota to Buffalo was just what Allen and the Bills needed. The multitalented Allen was heading into his third season and coming off a promising playoff year in 2019 but lacked a true alpha at receiver. Diggs filled that vacuum, establishing his place immediately in the Bills culture during the COVID-altered offseason of 2020 and setting the tone every day with his competitiveness and work ethic. If every receiver got one rep, Diggs wanted five. Diggs has been described by several sources as well-liked by teammates, sentiments that were apparent from his early days in Buffalo. Whether organizing a Thanksgiving turkey drive in the Buffalo area or playing catch with fans pregame, Diggs made his presence and example felt within the community and the locker room.
Diggs’ arrival directly correlated with Allen’s vault into the top-tier quarterback conversation and the Bills’ transition from fringe playoff team to true contender. Though some of Allen’s gains can be explained by the natural maturation of a young quarterback, Allen’s improved numbers after Diggs’ arrival in Total QBR (from 50 to 71), completion percentage (56% to 66%) and touchdown-to-interception ratio (from 30 touchdowns, 21 interceptions to 137 touchdowns, 57 interceptions) were undeniably tied to the duo’s compatibility.
For his part, Diggs’ star rose immediately with Allen as his quarterback — he was named a first-team All-Pro in 2020.
Stephen A. Smith can’t wait to see how Stefon Diggs improves C.J. Stroud and the Houston Texans.
The two appeared to have buddy-cop movie chemistry early on, sharing secret handshakes and laughs on the field. Allen went out of his way to praise Diggs in front of every microphone, heralding his No. 1 wideout’s impact on the field and his friendship off it.
“I’ve been a big believer in off-field relationships paying dividends on the field. I think that ours kind of speaks volumes,” Allen said in 2021 about the Diggs relationship. “We get to hang out with each other a lot, and develop those types of bonds and relationships, and it shows up on the field.”
In time, frustration would show up on the field as well, tied to the inability of the Bills to break through on the biggest stage. Late in an ugly 27-10 home loss to the Bengals in the 2022 playoffs, Diggs — limited to four catches on the day — could be seen animatedly addressing Allen on the sideline.
He explained himself in a series of tweets that only deepened the intrigue:
“Want me to be okay with losing ? Nah … Want me to be okay with our level of play when it’s not up to the standard ? Nah … It’s easy to criticize my reaction more than the result,” Diggs tweeted.
The controversy ignited anew at the subsequent mandatory minicamp when coach Sean McDermott told reporters he was “very concerned” about Diggs not being present.
The next day, McDermott clarified that he “gave Stef permission to get some space” after a conversation between the coach and star receiver. Diggs returned to practice that day.
Theories about the core issue abounded at Bills team headquarters that day. One team source believed Diggs had grown frustrated with the late-season losses, had suggestions about improving the overall approach to winning that went beyond the specifics of his own role, and that his delivery on those thoughts might have gone poorly. When asked about that theme, a source close to Diggs said the receiver “got to the point where he figured, I’m here and they know what I can do, but if we’re losing, let me help.”
“He’s super smart, and if you sugarcoat it with him and are not 100%, he’ll see through it,” the source said of Diggs’ approach. “And he remembers everything you say.”
A separate team source cited the 2022 postseason departure of the team’s receivers coach, Chad Hall, as a point of contention. Diggs is close to Hall, whose contract was up after the 2022 season. Jacksonville offered him a promotion from wide receivers coach to passing game coordinator, which he accepted. The Bills replaced him with veteran coach Adam Henry.
Regardless of Diggs’ intentions or the team’s handling of them, what a team source said felt like unspoken tension between the two sides for a while had gone public.
The issue appeared to cool down after that, as Diggs remained the focal point of the offense with 73 catches through the first 10 games of the 2023 season. But Buffalo lost five of those games, and a 24-22 upset at the hands of Russell Wilson and the Broncos turned up the heat around the whole team.