Team gets WR Diggs from Bills for picks
HOUSTON — The Texans have been full of surprises this offseason.
From their aggressiveness in free agency, to trading their first-round pick for additional compensation, the Texans have been making moves in the pursuit of winning a Super Bowl.
But no move was more surprising than the one they pulled off Wednesday morning.
Just weeks after failing to get Pro Bowl wide receiver Keenan Allen in a trade, the Texans decided to trade for four-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Stefon Diggs. The Texans are sending a 2025 second-round pick, while also getting the Bills' fifthrounder in 2025, a 2024 sixthround pick (No. 189) and Diggs.
The move was yet another signal that the Texans believe their window to win is now. Diggs, 30, has been one of the NFL'S best and most consistent wide receivers since he was drafted by the Vikings in 2015.
He was traded to the Bills in 2020, where he teamed up with All-pro quarterback Josh Allen. In all four seasons with the Bills, he had at least 100 receptions and at least 1,183 yards. His best season was in 2020, when he had 127 catches for 1,535 yards and eight touchdowns.
Things didn't end gracefully in Buffalo. Diggs' output over the second half of the season dropped, as the Bills used him less. Publicly, Diggs intimated that he wanted to remain in
Buffalo.
But Diggs was reportedly unhappy with the Bills and he often posted cryptic tweets indicating that.
At one point, his brother, Cowboys star cornerback Trevon Diggs, urged him on social media to leave Buffalo.
Reports of Diggs' unhappiness surfaced well before last season, though.
He did not show up for the Bills' mandatory minicamp last year. And Bills coach Sean Mcdermott told local reporters that he was “very concerned,” regarding Diggs' absence.
Diggs has a reputation as an emotional player. He also demanded to be traded from Minnesota.
Despite that, Diggs has continued to put up numbers. Last season, Diggs caught 107 passes for 1,183 yards and eight touchdowns. He's considered one of the best route runners in the NFL.
Perhaps his most famous play came in 2018, when Texans backup quarterback Case Keenum, then with the Vikings, threw a 61-yard, walk-off gamewinning touchdown pass against the Saints in the NFC divisional playoffs. That play was dubbed the “Minneapolis Miracle.”
Now the Texans and C.J. Stroud get another feared weapon on offense to go along with Nico Collins, Tank Dell and Dalton Schultz.
The biggest question is whether there will be enough balls to go around in Houston, and how Stroud will manage a big personality such as Diggs. Connecting with players has been Stroud's strength so far, but Collins and Dell have proven to be low-maintenance players during their times in Houston.