Bills, Texans heading in opposite directions
The Bills and Texans presumably have the same goal in 2024, winning the Lombardi Trophy. They are just taking wildly different paths to get there.
The Bills are in rebuild-on-the-fly mode after coming up short for the fourth straight season. They are shedding salary and expensive players, culminating in last Wednesday’s trade of receiver Stefon Diggs to Houston.
The Texans, meanwhile, already were loading up with one of the NFL’s most expensive rosters. Then general manager Nick Caserio traded for Diggs, giving C.J. Stroud one of the deepest and most talented receiving corps in the NFL.
The Bills have been a top-five cash spender in each of the last two seasons, so it was unrealistic to expect owner Terry Pegula to keep spending like that without getting the postseason results. Still, the Diggs trade continued a tough offseason for Bills fans reeling from another playoff disappointment. The Bills have said goodbye to popular players Micah Hyde, Jordan Poyer, Tre’Davious White, Mitch Morse, Gabe Davis, Deonte Harty, and now Diggs, dismantling most of the weapons around Josh Allen.
In Diggs, the Bills are subtracting a receiver who averaged 112 catches, 1,343 yards, and 9 touchdowns in his four seasons. With Davis and Harty also gone, the Bills’ new starting receivers are Curtis Samuel, signed in free agency, and holdovers Khalil Shakir and Justin Shorter, who has yet to play an NFL snap. The Bills also have excellent tight ends Dalton Kincaid and Dawson Knox,
but finding a receiver with pick 28 or 60 in the NFL Draft is now imperative.
Still, trading Diggs should not come as a surprise to anyone who followed the Bills closely. Diggs clashed with the coaching staff and Allen the last two years, culminating in a spat last June in which Diggs was sent home from the team facility. Diggs’s production dipped significantly over the second half of the 2023 season, with no 100-yard games in his final 11. And a telltale sign that Diggs’s time in Buffalo was up came at the end of their playoff loss to the Chiefs, when Allen ignored a wide-open Diggs streaking across the middle and instead threw the ball to Shakir in the end zone in double coverage. If Allen wasn’t going to even look at Diggs in a gotta-have-it moment, the Bills surely weren’t going to keep Diggs on an $18.5 million salary in 2024.
The Bills are betting that Allen’s elite talent can help incorporate new receivers quickly. Considering Patrick Mahomes just won two straight Super Bowls this way after losing Tyreek Hill,
it’s not crazy.
“This is by no means the Bills giving up or trying to take a step back or anything like that,” GM Brandon Beane
said Wednesday. “It’s April . . . and we’ll continue to work on this roster and make sure we’re ready to play come September.”
But the disappointment in Buffalo has been matched by equal parts excitement in Houston, where Caserio has made several bold moves to augment last year’s 10-7 team and take advantage of Stroud being on a cheap rookie contract for at least two more seasons.
After three years of building through the draft, Caserio determined that this offseason was the time to strike with his wallet. He traded his first-round pick (No. 23) to the Vikings for two secondrounders, then traded one of those second-rounders for Diggs. Caserio also gave $48 million guaranteed to the best pass rusher in free agency in Danielle Hunter, spent $33 million to augment the middle of the defense with tackle Denico Autry and linebacker Azeez AlShaair, signed two former first-round picks in cornerbacks Jeff Okudah and C.J. Henderson, and added Joe Mixon
to the offensive backfield. With free agency mostly concluded, the Texans have the fourth-most-expensive roster — $267 million in cash, about $34 million over league average (the Patriots are 25th, about $24 million under league average).
The Texans are now so deep in talent that Diggs may be their No. 3 receiver behind Nico Collins and Tank Dell. Stroud also has a terrific tight end in Dalton Schultz, two great running backs in Mixon and Dameon Pierce,
and a potentially elite offensive line anchored by left tackle Laremy Tunsil and right guard Shaq Mason.
Caserio is taking on some risk in adding Diggs, whose disgruntled behavior has forced trades from two teams, the Bills and Vikings. The Texans agreed to give Diggs a pay raise, taking his $3.5 million guarantee in 2025 and adding it to his 2024 salary to give him a payday of $22 million, while making Diggs a free agent after this season. The initial media reports spun this as a way for the Texans to get the best version of Diggs in 2024, as he’ll be motivated to play hard and be a good team player to get his next contract. But the opposite could easily be true, that Diggs becomes unhappy if he’s not getting the ball enough because it hurts his free agent value.
Either way, it was worth it for Caserio and the Texans to take a big swing with Diggs, especially since it’s only a one-year trial. The Texans’ window to spend and win is now, before Stroud becomes expensive.
A LONG TIME COMING ‘Texans Way’ not for everyone
This offseason, much is being made of the “Texans Way” and how teams should replicate their approach of collecting talent first, then adding the quarterback later. The conversation is relevant in New England, where some believe the Patriots should look to draft elite players at wide receiver and left tackle before drafting a quarterback.
While there is merit to that line of thinking, the Texans Way is not one that most teams will sign up for. Rather, the Texans are a product of a series of events that are difficult if not impossible to replicate.
GM Nick Caserio didn’t draft a firstround quarterback when he arrived in 2021, because the Texans didn’t have a first-round pick thanks to the Laremy Tunsil trade. So Caserio signed Tyrod Taylor, drafted Davis Mills in the third round, and went 4-13 that year, costing coach David Culley his job.
In 2022, Caserio again didn’t draft a quarterback, but only because it was one of the worst QB classes in modern history, with the first one not drafted until Kenny Pickett went 20th. Instead, the Texans went into the season with Mills at quarterback, and finished 313-1, costing coach Lovie Smith his job.
Everything finally fell into place in 2023, when the Texans had two top-10 picks thanks to the Deshaun Watson trade, and they nabbed C.J. Stroud at No. 2 overall. Stroud’s impact on the organization was immediate and helped bring out the best in young talent such as Nico Collins, Tank Dell, Christian Harris, and Jalen Pitre. Of course, had the Panthers taken Stroud instead of Bryce Young, the Texans would still be in a terrible spot, and Caserio might not have his job.
The Texans may be one of the hottest teams in the league. But they had to waste two seasons to get here, with a 726-1 record that cost two coaches their jobs and had Caserio on the hot seat entering last season. There aren’t too many head coaches or GMs who will sign up for the Texans Way.
ETC. Bidwill’s words are proving costly
The Cardinals are used to blowing easy victories on the field. But owner Michael Bidwill snatched defeat from the jaws of victory with an unforced error against former front office executive Terry McDonough and may have opened himself up to significant financial liability.
An NFL arbitrator this past week ruled against McDonough in his claims of unlawful retaliation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and invasion of privacy after McDonough was fired by the Cardinals in January 2023. Had Bidwill been able to keep quiet, that would’ve been the end of it.
But the arbitrator still awarded McDonough $3 million in damages from the Cardinals due to what the arbitrator concluded were “false and defamatory” statements made against McDonough last year by an outside PR firm hired by Bidwill.
Bidwill’s response to McDonough’s suit was so far out of bounds — accusing McDonough of “extreme domestic abuse” and of “abandoning responsibility” of raising one of his children with special needs, among other attacks that McDonough was able to prove were demonstrably false — that the arbitrator awarded McDonough $750,000 in general damages and $2.25 million in punitive damages, the first time an NFL owner lost an arbitration in the league’s own court.
The news got worse for Bidwill Thursday, when McDonough, his wife, and daughter each filed lawsuits in Arizona state court over the defamatory statements. McDonough, a Hingham native and the son of late Globe columnist Will McDonough, alleges Bidwill hired a PR firm to dig up dirt on McDonough and his family, admitted that he acted with an intent to harm McDonough and his family, and repeatedly lied in sworn testimony during a deposition. Considering Bidwill just lost an arbitration on these grounds, he seems to be facing a steep climb to fight off an expensive and embarrassing legal situation.
Bidwill also could be in trouble with the league office, if commissioner Roger Goodell has any scruples. McDonough also alleges that Bidwill admitted to violating the terms of former GM Steve Keim’s suspension in 2018, including the use of illicit burner phones. Between the defamatory statements, lying under oath, and violating the terms of Keim’s suspension, Bidwill has given Goodell ample reason to fine or suspend him.
Fans are not happy with the bill
The NFL has had a quiet few years on the stadium front since the Los Angeles and Las Vegas situations were settled. But fans in two cities are now telling their NFL owners they aren’t too happy about paying for stadiums.
Voters in Jackson County, Mo., roundly rejected a sales tax proposal that would have funded renovations at the Chiefs’ Arrowhead Stadium and Royals’ Kauffman Stadium. Kansas City’s mayor, Quinton Lucas, said he will continue talks with both teams to keep them on the Missouri side of town, at their current stadiums or otherwise. But politicians across the state line in Kansas are using the failed ballot measure to welcome the Chiefs when their lease at Arrowhead expires in 2031.
“Jackson County fumbled. Now there will be a mad scramble for the ball and we’re in the best position for a scoop and score,” former Kansas House Speaker Ron Ryckman Jr. told the Kansas City Star.
Missouri and Kansas have a “border war truce” to not poach businesses across state lines with financial incentives, but it appears that a battle is brewing over the Chiefs.
“It is my view that the border war truce, even after this vote, still is in place,” Lucas told KCUR-FM last Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the Bills have broken ground on a $1.4 billion (and rising) stadium set to open in 2026 that includes $850 million in public money and only $350 million from the Bills, who are hoping to raise $200 million of that from fans in the form of personal seat licenses. Bills fans are feeling fleeced over the PSL prices — anywhere from $15,000 to $50,000 per seat — which was not advertised ahead of time.
“I actually let representatives of the Bills and Legends — which is the subagent that’s actually selling the PSLs — know, in no unconditional terms, that I found it, first off, very upsetting that they would not announce what the PSL prices were for all the seats,” Erie County executive Mark Poloncarz said, via WIVB. “I’ve talked to the governor about this, she’s very concerned, as well. Whatever they sell it at, they have a right to do that, but they should at least publicize what the planned PSLs are for all of the seats.”
Rams have gotten creative
The Rams’ front office is known for hiding Easter eggs in their players’ contracts, such as signing bonuses that are palindromes.
So I chuckled this past week when I saw a copy of Jimmy Garoppolo’s contract with the Rams, the first time I had seen one of their deals.
Garoppolo’s one-year deal has $10.5 million in incentives. He can earn up to $4.5 million in what is titled “Jimmy’s Rolling Meadow Money I, II, and III,” based on games active and whether he plays 50 percent of snaps (Rolling Meadows was Garoppolo’s high school in suburban Chicago).
Garoppolo can also earn up to $3 million as part of “Jimmy’s Panther Payday,” based on playing time (the Panthers were Garoppolo’s college team, Eastern Illinois).
And Garoppolo can earn up to $3 million as part of “Jimmy’s Ain’t Nothin’ But a G Thang Incentive,” which pays $375,000 for each playoff game in which he plays 50 percent of snaps, and another $375,000 for a win.
Team president Kevin Demoff told me the Rams have been doing this for years, and credited Tony Pastoors, vice president of football and business administration, and Matthew Shearin, manager of football administration, for the creativity.
New Rams safety Kamren Curl can make an extra $2 million as part of his “Lights KAMera, Action Incentive,” and has a “Kam, Bam, and I’m Out Void” after the 2024 season. Cornerback Darious Williams has a $2.5 million “Darious WilLiAm’s Return to Hollywood Incentive,” and “The Blazer’s Farewell Void” in 2025 and 2026.
Extra points
Rest in peace, Vontae Davis, the 25th overall pick from 2009 who was found dead in his South Florida home this past week at age 35. Davis had 22 interceptions and two Pro Bowl appearances in 10 seasons with the Dolphins, Colts, and Bills, and may be most remembered for retiring at halftime of a game in Buffalo in 2018. But his biggest impact may have come in 2012, when “Hard Knocks” showed footage of the moment Davis was told he was traded from Miami to Indianapolis, and a shocked Davis responded, “I want to call my grandma.” HBO and NFL Films were criticized for exposing Davis at his rawest moment, and the series subsequently has reflected players in a more positive light . . . Chiefs receiver Rashee Rice proves once again that nothing good happens in the offseason, as he admitted
Thursday he was the driver of a
Lamborghini that was drag racing on a Dallas highway and caused a significant crash last weekend. If he is criminally charged, a one- or two-game suspension to start the season doesn’t seem out of the question . . . Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh, picking fifth in the draft, certainly is rooting for quarterbacks to be taken with the first four picks. “If four quarterbacks go in the first four picks, that’s not like the fifth pick anymore, that’s like the No. 1 pick in the draft for teams that have a great quarterback already,” Harbaugh said at the owners’ meetings.