Nobody saw the Bills’ acquisition of Stefon Diggs coming, even those close to the situation, apparently. That’s because despite everything that went on in his former home, Diggs had folks in his corner.
After the early waves of free agency, ESPN’s Insiders put together their “free-agency buzz on all 32 teams” this week. There, we have some insight onto the Bills-Vikings trade for Diggs.
Again, the report indicates that the Vikings did not plan to trade him. That lines up with what Vikings general manager Rick Spielman said at the recent scouting combine. That bold statement was “Diggs will be back.” So why did that change?
Here’s where good news comes in for that Bills. The ESPN report says that Vikings sources actually very much approved of Diggs. Here’s why via the report:
“Multiple team sources maintained weeks earlier that Diggs’ antics — including a midseason absence from practice over levels of unhappiness — were for attention and he was a good team guy when inside the building. Trading him was not the plan. But then Buffalo blew them away.”
Diggs wanted to be wanted as a No. 1 receiver and must have felt that was in question with Adam Thielen. He also had a volatile relationship with quarterback Kirk Cousins. But per ESPN, the Bills’ new 26-year-old wideout showed he can be a team player behind the scenes.
Such a report sheds some light onto why Buffalo trusted Diggs enough to bring him in on such a high price tag. Buffalo also had director of college scouting Terrance Gray and defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier in their corner. Those two had previous ties to Diggs via their time in Minnesota before joining the Bills. Any red flags from them and Buffalo still likely has their first-round pick at the upcoming draft.
[lawrence-related id=57803,57795,57675,57744]