There have been a multitude of teams, including the New England Patriots, connected to Stefon Diggs during the offseason. Yet, only a month out from the start of training camp, the Patriots‘ former leading receiver in 2025 and four-time Pro Bowler remains unsigned.
An easy guess as to why that is starts with the dollar signs.
Diggs is a proven veteran wideout coming off a year where he hauled in 85 catches for 1,013 yards and four touchdowns. If his initial contract didn’t come with a $26.5 million salary cap hit in 2026, there’s a strong chance that Diggs wouldn’t have been released by the Patriots.
Their decision to part ways ahead of free agency had more to do with the contract than the player, and that fueled hopes that the two sides would return to the negotiating table at some point and hammer out a new deal that would give New England Diggs, Romeo Doubs and A.J. Brown on the same team. But that ship has likely sailed with Patriots coach Mike Vrabel pouring a bucket of ice water on the simmering hopes of a reunion.
“I wouldn’t say anything is off the table… Right now I don’t think that that’s something that I think we’re exploring, but I would never say no,” said Vrabel, via Patriots Wire’s Sophie Weller.
There have been a multitude of teams mentioned with potential interest in Diggs, including the Baltimore Ravens, Los Angeles Rams and Washington Commanders. The latter has felt like the most likely scenario given Diggs’ hometown ties to the area.
But what if Diggs doesn’t get the money he wants and a dark horse suitor, like the Buffalo Bills, enters the fray to really shake things up? There are four years of history there for Diggs and the Bills to reignite the AFC East race.
Sure, the Patriots and Bills split their head-to-head meetings last season with New England taking the divisional crown for the first time since 2019. But the Patriots have seemingly pulled away in the race with the many moves they’ve made in the offseason.
Meanwhile, the Bills haven’t done much of anything to signal they’ll be any better than they were last year. One could even argue that they’ll take a step back after firing head coach Sean McDermott. Josh Allen is Superman on the football field, but he’s going to need more than D.J. Moore and a middle-of-the-road defense to fly high enough to reach his first Super Bowl.
But adding Diggs to the mix might be enough to make it interesting. There is a built-in connection with the former duo that ranked amongst the best in the league at one point.
The Bills have to be seeing the moves being made by the Patriots, and it would be hard to imagine them feeling good about their offseason in relation to the competition. They are now faced with a situation where the Patriots have one of the best young quarterbacks in the league in Drake Maye and a top-10 defensive unit that gave Allen problems last season.
Will the Bills ever wake up and realize fighting fire with fire is much better than laying the hopes and dreams of an entire franchise on the shoulders of one man?
The Patriots surely hope not.
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This article originally appeared on Patriots Wire: Stefon Diggs could create nightmare scenario for Patriots in 2026
