Breaking; Bills GM Gets Brutally Honest on Abruptly Trading Stefon Diggs
On Wednesday, April 3rd, the sudden trade of wide receiver Stefon Diggs from the Buffalo Bills to Houston Texans left many surprised.
As a result of Diggs’ $96 million extension, the Bills will incur more than $31 million in dead money after his sudden departure. To part ways with Diggs, Buffalo traded away their 2024 sixth-round pick and 2025 fifth-round pick to Houston. In return for this exchange, the Bills acquired a second-rounder for the year 2025.
Brandon Beane, the general manager of the Bills, declined to confirm if Diggs had requested a trade during his interview with reporters. However, he was very direct about discussing factors such as dead money and requiring a new primary receiver well after free agency’s initial wave when confronted in regards to those areas.
He stated that “It’s a work in progress” and acknowledged that we may not be better today. However, he remains determined to improve the situation as he considers himself highly competitive and unwilling to give up. With confidence in both his teammates on the roster and staff supporting him, they will continue working together towards success.
To clear up cap space, the Bills let go of six essential veterans prior to free agency. As a result of swift action, they were left with roughly $7 million in available funds. Unfortunately, Diggs leaving means that their budget “drops us down into the 3s,” according to Beane’s observation. Yet there is good news for Buffalo as Tre’Davious White will be released on June 1 and bring an additional $10 million influx towards their finances.
In this position, tough choices must often be made. Such decisions are not taken lightly and require a lot of reflection, deliberation, and high-level discussions within our organization. Nonetheless, we have carefully considered all factors to make the best decision for the benefit of the Bills.
Brandon Beane has stated that Buffalo Bills’ quarterback Josh Allen was cognizant of the prospect of Stefon Diggs being traded.
On November 20, 2022 at Ford Field, Josh Allen and Stefon Diggs of the Buffalo Bills rejoiced following a touchdown against the Cleveland Browns.
Although Beane claimed that he had not conversed with Bills quarterback Josh Allen since the announcement of the trade on Wednesday morning, their franchise player was not entirely uninformed. According to Beane, he made sure that trading away his top wide receiver would not come as a total shock to Allen.
Prior to “this week,” he had merely informed Allen about the existence of potential inquiries from teams interested in acquiring Diggs. However, it wasn’t until recently that these discussions progressed into more serious negotiations.
Beane chose to keep the details on why the Bills finally decided to act, undisclosed. He stated that it’s not necessary to explain every move made and that multiple factors contribute towards these decisions. With regards specifically to Diggs, there were several red flags highlighting his time in Buffalo would be cut short; although financially speaking, a departure was only anticipated after the 2024 NFL season.
Beane restated that when making a decision of this caliber, it typically involves multiple factors. Unless there was an illegal or egregious act committed by someone involved in the situation, it is not simply one thing to consider. A thorough analysis must be conducted where all viewpoints are taken into account and the positive and negative aspects are weighed against each other before coming to a conclusion.
During the latter part of the season, The Bills demonstrated their ability to secure victories even in Diggs’ absence. However, he was unable to produce results during their playoff defeat against Kansas City Chiefs. Although trading him may result in immediate financial repercussions, it would generate a significant amount of cap space worth $27.3 million by 2025 for The Bills.
