Are We Witnessing Stefon Diggs’ Final Games With Buffalo Bills?
The Buffalo Bills edged out the Los Angeles Chargers Saturday evening, winning a third consecutive game since their bye week. At 9-6, coach Sean McDermott's squad has turned a season that was teetering on disaster a few weeks ago into one where they now have a 62 percent chance to reach the playoffs and an outside shot to win the AFC East.
So this isn't negativity for negativity's sake, even if a chunk of the world believes the media loves to do that. But receiver Stefon Diggs had just five catches for 29 yards in the win over the Chargers. It was the ninth consecutive game where Diggs didn't go over 100 yards receiving.
USA Today
Granted, former offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey was fired in the midst of that stretch. But while interim offensive coordinator Joe Brady has seemingly done a good enough job to get the gig on a full-time basis, Diggs has 19 catches for 175 yards and a touchdown in four games since the change at play caller. Compare that to the first four games of the season, when Diggs caught 31 passes for 399 yards and four touchdowns, much more in line with what's come to be expected of the three-time Pro Bowler.
Certainly, it's encouraging from a team perspective that the Bills seem to have realized that expecting Diggs and quarterback Josh Allen to turn in herculean efforts every week isn't realistic. Running back James Cook -- even with a few too many fumbles for his own good -- has emerged as a potential star. Receiver Gabe Davis remains a boom-or-bust player, but he boomed Saturday evening, with four catches for 130 yards and a touchdown against the Chargers. Rookie tight end Dalton Kincaid has shown flashes of Pro Bowl potential this season. Diversifying on offense was a necessary development for the Bills.
Still, it's hard to imagine Diggs is thrilled with his production over the last nine games, when he's gone over 50 yards receiving on just four occasions. If the Bills fall short of reaching the Super Bowl, bring back McDermott as coach and remove the interim tag from Brady as the offensive coordinator, it will be fair to wonder whether Diggs will be interested in remaining part of the team.
Mind you, this is someone who pushed his way out of the Minnesota after five seasons, probably with a justifiable belief that the Vikings weren't getting the best out of him. He's still topped over 1,000 yards receiving for the sixth consecutive year in 2023, but remember, the first two of those seasons came in Minnesota, and he was still unhappy.
Additionally, while the Bills were able to put the toothpaste back in the tube with Diggs back in July, it's unclear if that was a long-term fix. Diggs was initially absent from mandatory minicamp, with McDermott admitting he was "very concerned," before backtracking later on when the former All-Pro receiver showed up. Something happened there, though, and if the Bills have another disappointing postseason exit this year -- which might be anything short of a Super Bowl appearance -- you wonder if those issues will bubble up again.
Stefon's younger brother -- Dallas Cowboys cornerback Trevon Diggs -- tweeted during Buffalo's Week 10 loss to the Denver Broncos "Man 14 Gotta get up outta there," referring to his brother on the Bills. The post remains active on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. Perhaps this was a younger brother trying to wish his current employer trading for his older brother into existence. But if Trevon felt like Stefon was thrilled with his situation in Buffalo, he probably wouldn't have said anything. And certainly, Stefon could have asked him to take the post down if he had a major problem with it.
All this could be fixed by Diggs having a monster stretch of production across the final two weeks of the regular season and into the playoffs. If Diggs helps put the Bills on a parade float, he'll be back next season. But even as the Bills have gotten hot, you do wonder whether the 30-year-old will be happy to spend his remaining prime years in Buffalo if he doesn't believe he'll be a 100+ yard receiver every week anymore.
