Stefon Diggs Traded to Bills For Four Draft Picks, Including 2020 First
The Vikings have traded disgruntled star wide receiver Stefon Diggs to the Buffalo Bills, as first reported by Jay Glazer of FOX Sports.
The return coming back to Minnesota is made up of four draft picks: a 2020 first-rounder (No. 22 overall), a 2020 fifth-rounder, a 2020 sixth-rounder, and a 2021 fourth-rounder. In the deal, the Vikings are also sending one of their four 2020 seventh-round picks to Buffalo.
This deal ends a lengthy saga of rumors, fines, and mysterious social media posts from Diggs, who, according to Ben Goessling of the Star Tribune, had "been trying to get out of Minnesota since OTAs last year." It comes on the same day that Diggs confirmed there was substance to his most recent tweets, posting that "something's going to happen."
He was right. Diggs is headed to Buffalo, where he'll catch passes from young quarterback Josh Allen and become the star of a wide receiver corps previously headlined by John Brown and Cole Beasley.
This trade opens up another $5.5 million in cap space for the Vikings, who will have to eat $9 million in dead money. That space will help the Vikings as they go forward in free agency; General Manager Rick Spielman could look to use it on re-signing one or two of Everson Griffen, Trae Waynes, and Mackensie Alexander.
Perhaps more importantly, the Vikings now have 12 draft picks – including two first-rounders (Nos. 22 and 25 overall) – in what is widely regarded to be the strongest wide receiver draft class in years. Spielman could look to take a receiver like LSU's Justin Jefferson, TCU's Jalen Reagor, or Colorado's Laviska Shenault with one of those first-round picks.
The stable of picks currently owned by the Vikings also gives Spielman a great deal of flexibility going forward. He has all the assets to move up or down in the draft as he pleases, or to potentially flip picks for a player in future trades.
The Vikings are losing one of the league's best route-runners and complete receivers, but it at least appears Spielman maximized the return for a player who didn't want to be in Minnesota any longer.
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