Stefon Diggs says he wanted to finish his career with the Bills – so why didn't it happen?
Did Stefon Diggs force his way out of Buffalo, either by officially requesting a trade – or unofficially making it known he no longer wanted to play here? Did the Bills grow tired of handling Diggs’ sometimes outsized personality? It is an enduring mystery.
On the surface, Stefon Diggs had it all.
As a member of the Buffalo Bills from 2020-23, he was on a good team with a (very) good quarterback, making (very, very) good money.
In the end, though, that wasn’t enough. The enigmatic wide receiver and the team parted ways ahead of the 2024 season, when the Bills traded Diggs to the Houston Texans.
Did Diggs force his way out, either by officially requesting a trade – or unofficially making it known he no longer wanted to play in Buffalo? Did the Bills grow tired of handling Diggs’ sometimes outsized personality?
It is an enduring mystery.
Former Bills wide receiver and current member of the Patriots Stefon Diggs dances along the sidelines on Dec. 14 in Foxborough, Mass.
Harry Scull Jr., Buffalo News
Diggs, who will play Sunday in the first Super Bowl of his career as a member of the New England Patriots, was asked for his side of the story this week.
“I really think it was just the business side of it,” he said. “Obviously, I was under contract. The personal side, a lot of things happened behind closed doors. I never really get into that. I never got into it since I got in the league. My departure in Minnesota, I never spoke about it. My departure in Buffalo, I never spoke about it. I feel like I keep business, business.
“Everybody knows what happened – the people who were in the room, and I kind of leave it at that. I try not to keep it in the public (eye), because telling your side of the story won't win nobody over. I'm not trying to do that.”
Diggs wasn’t finished.
“I mean what I say and I say what I mean. At that point, I was saying I wanted to finish my career in Buffalo,” he said. “It didn't happen that way. That's part of the business. We're not in the 1970s and '80s, where guys are on one team for the rest of their career.”
Diggs’ lone season in Houston started off strong. He had 47 catches for 496 yards and three touchdowns in eight games before suffering a torn ACL in his right knee during a Week 8 game against the Colts.
He signed a three-year contract worth up to $63.5 million with the Patriots as an unrestricted free agent. Despite the injury, he made it back onto the field in time for Week 1 – an impressive recovery for a 32-year-old that speaks to his work ethic. Diggs finished fifth Thursday night in voting for the NFL Comeback Player of the Year award that went to 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey.
“He's certainly in a rare class. He works his tail off to be ready each week – does a lot of things to take care of his body,” Patriots wide receivers coach Todd Downing said. “I was really impressed this offseason how fast he was coming along with the injury. He was pushing the trainers, saying, ‘I want to do more. I want to do more.’ To be able to see him come out and have the training camp that he had, that's when he showed me he's ready to go and he wasn't messing around. Very impressive, his work ethic.”
Diggs certainly showed he was back to 100% during New England’s Week 5 win over the Bills at Highmark Stadium. He torched the Buffalo secondary for 10 catches and 146 yards – totals that ended up being season highs in both categories. That had to have been a good feeling – even if he wouldn’t say so publicly.
“I've got a lot of respect for people. I like to leave it on the basis of having respect for those people,” Diggs said of the Bills. “These are people that I called my brothers and my family. We've all got family here. Family business is family business. You don't take it outside, even if those things don't go right. I would never try to tear anybody down, I would never (say) 'woe is me.' I feel like both parties moved on how it was supposed to, and I just took it for what it was.”
That last part is debatable.
The Bills have lacked a true No. 1 receiver since Diggs’ departure. That absence was especially felt during the 2025 season, when quarterback Josh Allen, at times, lacked a reliable weapon.
What would the Buffalo offense look like if Diggs was never traded? It’s a fair question to ponder. Diggs wasn’t in much of a mood during the Patriots’ media availability at their team hotel to rehash the past.
“I'm a guy that rolls with the punches,” he said. “I have an appreciation and love and respect for those guys over there. I'm never going to change my mind, I'm never going to say something else. I ain't out here trying to write a book on what happened, so it's all good.”
Patriots wide receiver Stefon Diggs had the seventh 1,000-yard receiving season of his career in his first year in New England.
Charlie Riedel, Associated Press
That’s understandable. He’s got bigger things to focus on in the short term – starting with the chance to win his first Super Bowl on Sunday when the Patriots face the Seahawks at Levi’s Stadium. Diggs finished the regular season with 85 catches for 1,013 yards and four touchdowns. It was the seventh 1,000-yard season of his 11-year career. His production has slowed in the playoffs, with 11 catches for just 73 yards and one touchdown combined in wins over the Chargers, Texans and Broncos.
Throughout it all, he’s brought the same intensity he demonstrated during his time in Buffalo.
“I've always been a leader by example, growing up, because I wasn't the one to talk, but just watching him come to the team and meet everybody, not just the receiver room, he knows how to get everybody riled up and run through a wall for him,” Patriots receiver DeMario Douglas said.
Off the field, it’s been a tumultuous last year for Diggs. Before the season started, a video of him emerged on a boat and he was surrounded by women while in possession of a pink, powdery substance that was never identified (although there is plenty of speculation online).
He also faces a felony charge of strangling or choking his personal chef Dec. 2, as well as a misdemeanor charge of assault and battery that reportedly stemmed from a monetary dispute. His court date for those charges was postponed until after the Super Bowl.
It is all part of a complicated legacy for both the player and person – a legacy that will have another chapter written one way or another Sunday night.
“When it comes down to legacy, that’s what I want to be known for,” Diggs said this week. “People say ‘They don’t want to be known for football,’ but this is what I’ve been doing since I was 5. I’m saying I want the respect. I don’t want all this time to be wasted. I want all this time to be validated in a spot of respect, not because everybody knows you or everybody said you were a good player. I’ve been doing this for a reason and a purpose."
