Tag: bills vikings

Report: Despite Vikings issues, Bills’ Stefon Diggs called ‘good team guy’

Here’s where good news comes in for that Bills. The ESPN report says that Vikings sources actually very much approved of Diggs.

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.

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Vikings take WR with Bills pick in new Mel Kiper Jr. mock draft

Mock draft season is certainly less fun now that the Buffalo Bills don’t have a first-round pick thanks to their trade for wide receiver Stefon Diggs. 

Mock draft season is certainly less fun now that the Buffalo Bills don’t have a first-round pick thanks to their trade for wide receiver Stefon Diggs.

Come this summer when Diggs dawns the red, white and blue, few will care, though.

But in regard to the selection formerly known as the Bills’ pick, now the Vikings’ pick, the No.22 selection, ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. has an interesting player going off the board in his latest mock draft to the Vikings there. Mostly because of his position.

The pick is Baylor wide receiver Denzel Mims.

For what it’s worth, here’s what Kiper says about Mims:

“Minnesota got this pick by trading Stefon Diggs last week, and they could use it to find a direct replacement. Adam Thielen is the clear WR1, but there’s not much else on the roster that should excite Vikings fans. Mims is one of the biggest risers from the pre-draft process.”

As referenced, Mims is rising on draft boards thanks to his combine workouts. He followed a strong Senior Bowl with a 4.38 40-yard dash time and a 38.5-inch vertical jump. That, combined with his 6-foot-3 frame, makes him an interesting prospect.

In regard to the Bills, Diggs would certainly be the better player in the short term. But if Mims was the pick, Bills fans would compare his career to Diggs for the foreseeable future.

In the short time, it would be easy to imagine Diggs being the better option here. Any wideout prospect, or at least most, would be a roll of the dice. One that’s only recently rising up draft boards seems like an even bigger one. Buffalo fans should be satisfied if this situation played out.

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Peter King says Bills overpaid for Stefon Diggs

Buffalo’s offense gets better with such a talent, but some folks think the price was too high for Diggs. Among those is NBC Sports’ senior writer Peter King.

The Bills swung the deal of the first week of the NFL’s free agency period, landing receiver Stefon Diggs via trade with the Minnesota Vikings.

Buffalo’s offense gets better with such a talent, but some folks think the price was too high for Diggs. Among those is NBC Sports’ senior writer Peter King.

Here’s what he laid out in his weekly Monday column:

Bills overpaid for Stefon Diggs. I like Diggs a lot, but he’s not the game-changer that Hopkins is, and Buffalo traded, in effect, a one, four and five for him. Pretty rich, I thought, particularly in a year when so many top receivers will be there for Buffalo, who entered the week picking 22, 54 and 86.

Essentially what King is saying is that the Bills overpaid for Diggs because of the DeAndre Hopkins trade that also went down during the opening of free agency. In that deal, the Texans sent their stud wideout and a fourth-round draft pick to the Cardinals for oft-injured All-Pro running back David Johnson and a 2020 second-round draft pick as well as a 2021 fourth-round draft pick.

But there’s things to consider here. First, the Texans don’t have a general manager. Head coach Bill O’Brien is conducting the roster management for the Texans for the time being and this trade screams of a coach disliking a player and just wanting to get rid of him. It appeared very much to be a short-sighted move.

In addition, there’s much deeper financial implications here. Diggs is now a Bill because he didn’t like the Vikings. That’s all. Hopkins and O’Brien reportedly butt heads, but that’s just the start. Now Hopkins wants a new deal reportedly near $20 million a season.

Hopkins is a special player, but so is Diggs and his cap hit near $12 million through the next few seasons. Diggs doesn’t want a new deal from a new team, he just wanted a new team.

Plus, King should know better, just because a wide receiver class is “deep” it does not mean the wideout the Bills hypothetically pick would pan out.

For those who forgot, the 2004 draft class was said to be among the deepest quarterback classes in NFL history. Some selections from that draft classes included Eli Manning, Phillip Rivers, Ben Roethlisberger and JP Losman.

We know which of those did not pan out. The Bills used their first-round pick to land a player who is already proven. Not a bad idea.

Playing devil’s advocate for the NBC Sports analyst though, the Bills could’ve been in a place with the No. 22 overall pick where perhaps a prime prospect was there for the taking. Now we’ll have to wait and see who exactly is there at No. 22 at the end of April, and then we’ll check back in a couple years from now to see if those prospects panned out or not.

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MMQB says Stefon Diggs tweet fueled Bills-Vikings trade

Whether it was because of the advice of his representatives or just a decision made by Stefon Diggs himself, it worked. 

The Bills’ biggest move of free agency had more to do with everything but the open market. According to the MMQB’s Albert Breer, it even had more to do with Twitter than anything else.

We’re now a week removed from the trade which went down on the evening of March 16. Whether it was because of the advice of his representatives or just a decision made by Stefon Diggs himself, it worked.

Earlier in the day on March 16, the Minnesota Vikings gave quarterback Kirk Cousins an extension. Diggs’ issues with the Vikings off the field were known, and much speculation insists it involved a bad vibe with Cousins. After that deal with the QB was announced, Diggs took to his social media page on Twitter and sent a message stating: “it’s time for a new beginning”:

Per Breer’s report, after that tweet was sent, the phone of Rick Spielman, the Vikings general manager, started ringing:

Diggs’s tweet on Monday, believe it or not, actually did spark talks. The receiver posted at 2:46 p.m. ET, in the wake of the Kirk Cousins extension: “It’s time for a new beginning.” The cryptic message led to a handful of teams calling Minnesota.

The report also says the Bills were very much interested in previously adding Diggs at the 2019 trade deadline, but the asking price was too high, two first-round picks even. The Bills eventually did part with a first, but only one, along with a fifth, sixth and future fourth rounder. Perhaps because it was now the offseason, the Vikings lowered the asking price, and with the help of a tweet, evidently, Bills general manager Brandon Beane pulled off the deal.

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13 things to know about Bills WR Stefon Diggs

13 things to know about Buffalo Bills WR Stefon Diggs following his trade from the Vikings to the Bills.

The Bills acquired wide receiver Stefon Diggs from the Minnesota Vikings. It is a big swing for the fences for Buffalo.

There’s plenty to unpack in regard to the player who was instantly dubbed as Josh Allen’s No. 1 receiver moving forward. There’s plenty of things about Diggs you might be aware of and some things you didn’t even realize you needed to hear.

With that, here are 13 things to know about Bills wideout Stefon Diggs:

What happened off the field?

Diggs is good at football and young at only 26. So why is he on the Bills now and not the Vikings? Well there’s just a slew of random off-field issues they had with his former team, and what exactly happened is the big question.

Most recently just prior to being traded by the Vikings, he took to social media on Monday assuring people that the rumors of a potential trade were real, stating: “something’s going to happen.” That comes just a few days after he cleaned out his social media accounts of all things Vikings, only to hours later post a video of himself working out in a Cardinals t-shirt.

Things like that just happened all the time with him on social media.

Further down the line during the season, Diggs and quarterback Kirk Cousins seemed to also be on different pages. Diggs’ on-field persona changed a lot in 2019, toward a more negative one. GMFB’s Peter Schrager described his body language as “terrible” during last season. There were also rumblings of Diggs perhaps not liking teammate Adam Thielen either, his wideout partner. But then there’s been times where Diggs has said things are fine. It’s been all over the place.

Really, no one knows exactly where things went downhill, but it was clear Diggs wanted out. But rest easy, he already seems motivated with the Bills since he gave Josh Allen a shoutout on Twitter after the trade was reported.

 

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Players, media react to Bills’ trade deal for Stefon Diggs

The Bills sent shockwaves across western New York and the NFL on Monday evening. The Bills made three moves, in total. 

The Bills sent shockwaves across western New York and the NFL on Monday evening. The Bills made three moves, in total.

Buffalo agreed to terms with linebacker AJ Klein and defensive end Mario Addison, but the night was highlighted by their trade for Stefon Diggs.

Diggs is one of the NFL’s best receivers and has wanted the Vikings to move him for some time. Anytime a headline-grabbing wideout gets his wish, it’s always big news, and many had their takes on it.

Here’s how some Bills players and national media (for better or worse) reacted to the trade deal that was on Monday:

QB Josh Allen

Adam Schefter, ESPN

LS Reid Ferguson

Sports Illustrated

OL Cody Ford

QB Matt Barkley

Chris Simms, NBC Sports

OL Dion Dawkins

Skip Bayless, FOX Sports

Dan Orlovsky, ESPN

Adam Schein, CBS Sports

Ian Rapoport, NFL Network

Warren Sharp, Sharp Football

Jason McIntyre, FOX Sports

Ian Kenyon, Bleacher Report

Dan “Big Cat” Katz, Barstool Sports

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Instant analysis: Bills strike trade deal for WR Stefon Diggs

Sandwiched into those two updates was a blockbuster trade as the Bills landed wide receiver Stefon Diggs from the Minnesota Vikings. 

The Bills made their fans wait, but they got on the board in a big, big way on Monday evening.

Buffalo agreed to terms with linebacker AJ Klein and defensive end Mario Addison. Sandwiched into those two updates was a blockbuster trade as the Bills landed wide receiver Stefon Diggs from the Minnesota Vikings.

The trade cost the Bills a hefty sum, including a first-round pick. While the 2020 NFL Draft will be a bit less exciting now, one thing is certainly clear.

The Bills are “all in” now.

Diggs isn’t a rookie, but Buffalo still landed a younger prospect. He’s also not the big-bodied wonder some hoped for. However, the 26-year-old has five years under his belt, but now the Bills don’t have to hope they select a rookie that pans out, now they have a proven and legit No. 1 receiver. Diggs shown that since entering the league.

Even as a rookie, Diggs put up numbers with the Vikings that are better than the ones the team has gotten out of their wideout room in recent memory, especially in a No. 2 role. In his first season, Diggs had 52 catches for 720 yards and four touchdowns. He’s only grown from there.

Diggs has put together back-to-back 1,000-plus yard seasons the last two years. His best year was 2018, when he caught 102 total passes. Overall in his career, Diggs has caught 365 catches for 4,623 yards and 30 touchdowns in 70 games played.

The closest thing the Bills have had to that in recent memory was Sammy Watkins. But the big key here isn’t just one player. The Bills are finally building a full offense.

Diggs joins the likes of Cole Beasley and John Brown. That duo put up some career-best numbers with quarterback Josh Allen in 2019 themselves. Beasley had a career-high six touchdowns, while Brown himself also passed the 1,000-yard receiving mark (1,060).

This trio, along with tight end reinforcement led by Dawson Knox, injects a belief into the team and their fan base which they’ve lacked for years. Sure, Buffalo’s put up a good defense under head coach Sean McDermott, but the gap between the offense and defense is getting closer.

But of course, general manager Brandon Beane only wants the offense to catch up and not have the defense regress. Not only are Addison and Klein slated to fill holes, could they improve Buffalo’s already stout defense? And don’t forget Josh Norman either, a former All-Pro that’s hopeful he can return to the form in McDermott.

So that’s right, the Bills are absolutely all in… and all eyes on Allen now.

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Stefon Diggs makes first comments since trade to Bills

Buffalo Bills WR Stefon Diggs responds to QB Josh Allen on Twitter.

Things seem all but confirmed now. Vikings….scratch that, Buffalo Bills wide receiver Stefon Diggs has made his first, albeit brief, comments since joining the team via trade.

The Bills sent a slew of picks to the Vikings for the wideout, including a first-round pick. Despite a decent haul, there’s now no need to worry if Diggs is happy about teaming up his new quarterback. He sounds it.

Bills quarterback Josh Allen sent out a tweet after he heard the news. It was brief and to the point, but very creative: “Ya Digg?” the tweet read.

Well Diggs caught wind of the message and has responded. He seems ready to be with the Bills:

The Bills will need the 26-year-old playmaker ready. He’s going to be relied on from Allen and all of Bills Mafia. Diggs now joins what might be the best trio of playmakers the Bills have had in their roster in any recent memory with John Brown and Cole Beasley.

For an extensive period, Diggs has expressed an interest to leave the Vikings due to differences with the team and quarterback Kirk Cousins. Some of that raised some red flags from folks when the trade was first announced, but those concerns can probably be put to rest for now.

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Bills trade for Vikings WR Stefon Diggs

The Buffalo Bills have acquired wide receiver Stefon Diggs in a trade from the Minnesota Vikings.

The Buffalo Bills have acquired wide receiver Stefon Diggs in a trade from the Minnesota Vikings.

The trade is a massive one for Diggs. Via ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Bills sent a first, fifth, sixth, and 2021 fourth-round pick to the Vikings for the wideout and a 2020 seventh-round pick.

Just earlier on Monday, Diggs provided a bit of hint to a possible trade himself. On his Twitter account, Diggs posted a message that said, “something’s going to happen.” His wish has come true.

The 26-year-old is a former fifth-round pick of the Vikings from 2015. Despite that, he’s had production in each of his professional seasons that the Bills have sorely lacked in recent years.

As a rookie, Diggs had 52 catches for 720 yards and four touchdowns. Over the past two seasons, Diggs has surpassed the 1,000-yard receiving plateau. In total, Diggs has 365 catches for 4,623 yards and 30 touchdowns in his five-year career.

Diggs does come with some baggage, though. He signed a five-year, $72 million deal in 2018. Still, Diggs has expressed a desire to leave the Vikings for sometime. He’s seemingly shown some frustration with quarterback Kirk Cousins in the past, and he’s generally appeared unhappy with the Vikings overall.

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