Bills' GM Brandon Beane Explains Why They Decided To Trade Stefon Diggs to Texans

Earlier this offseason, the Houston Texans improved their already lethal wide receiver group by trading for Stefon Diggs, a former Minnesota Vikings and Buffalo Bills player. Buffalo sent Diggs along with a 2024 sixth-round pick and a 2025 fifth-round pick to Houston in exchange for a 2025 second-rounder.

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Diggs had become somewhat disgruntled towards the end of his time in Buffalo, so it made sense for the two sides to amicably part ways. Some didn't think the move made much sense from the Bills side - due to the cap hit they would be taking on - but in a recent interview with The Athletic, Bills' GM Brandon Beane explained the reasoning behind it.

"A player of his caliber, you weigh a lot of things on those situations. I don't need to go through all those reasons why we decided to go ahead and do that. I would say from a cap standpoint, we decided to just go ahead and eat it now.

"And we think that we can compete and do what we need to do by eating it now and then not walk into next year all right... because if we didn't if we tried to come up with some way and split it up too many different ways, then... now it's just like that albatross, just hanging on your neck all year, and you look at your cap and you're going, oh man look at how much money we still have dead."

Why did the Bills choose to trade Stefon Diggs now?

GM Brandon Beane explains that it was more prudent to eat the cap hit now rather than later on The Athletic NFL Show.

🎧 https://t.co/SsvcEuNe6k pic.twitter.com/VLJtZpU1si
— The Athletic NFL (@TheAthleticNFL) May 28, 2024

Either way, it seemed that the Bills would have to take some type of hit when it came to cap space for Diggs. They initially were going to be hit with $27.8 million in cap if he ran things back upstate, but now, Diggs will count for roughly $31.1 million due to bonus money - costing the Bills an extra $3.24 million in 2024.

Despite eating the cap now, it was the smarter move as they likely would have owed more had they retained his services in 2024, saving $19 million. Diggs is now set in place in Houston, but since his arrival, the sides have met on a restructured deal that will allow Diggs to become a free agent in 2025.

Stick with TexansGameday for more coverage of the Houston Texans throughout the 2024 season.

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