Stefon Diggs is officially a member of the Houston Texans and hopes to be the reason why the AFC South winners are contenders again in 2024.
But how did Houston land Diggs? What happened behind closed doors that led to Buffalo cutting ties with the disgruntled wide receiver and taking a $31 million dead-cap hit?
Surprisingly, his old team in Minnesota was involved.
During an interview on “The Stephen A. Smith Show,” ESPN’s Adam Schefter mentioned that Houston planned on trading its first-round pick (No. 23) to the Vikings to land better draft compensation without moving too far down the pecking order.
Many fans were upset about Caserio trading out of the first BEFORE the draft but have a much clearer picture as to why now. @AdamSchefter explains that THE TEXANS approached the Vikings for the trade so they could acquire capital for a trade like the Diggs one.
As a result,… pic.twitter.com/zwEa8qVwBX
— Houston Stressans (@TexansCommenter) April 4, 2024
Minnesota offered its second-round pick (No. 42), a sixth-round pick (No. 188) and a 2025 second-round pick. That latter was used to acquire Diggs, along with a 2024 sixth-round pick (No. 189) and a 2025 fifth-round pick.
“A couple of weeks back, the Texans went to the Vikings to initiate a trade to get out of the first round,” Schefter said. “Everybody assumed it was the Vikings so they can go up and get a quarterback. But it was the Texans so they could be in a position to make a trade, like they did on Wednesday, for Stefon Diggs.”
Diggs heads to Houston looking for a career year to set up a payday next offseason. After Houston finalized the trade, it elected to void the final three years of his four-year, $104 million extension signed with Buffalo back in April 2022.
Houston still believes the version of Diggs that closed out 2023 will remain back in Buffalo and that a more aggressive and hungry version will take the field at NRG Stadium. Since 2020, he has led the league in receptions (445) and is one of only four players in league history to record four consecutive seasons with 100-plus receptions.
Diggs is also one of two receivers to be selected to the Pro Bowl in each of the past four seasons, along with the Miami Dolphins’ Tyreek Hill.