The Buffalo Bills found themselves in some headlines for all of the wrong reasons in recent weeks. It wasn’t for anything that was going on during OTAs, but instead who was and wasn’t present at the team’s first offseason practices.
Star wide receiver Stefon Diggs was not present for the voluntary portion of the practices, which wasn’t too big of a surprise. Plenty of veterans don’t participate in those but will show up to the mandatory portion. That is where things got messy.
Bills head coach Sean McDermott said that Diggs was not present at the mandatory minicamp and was concerned about his absence. Diggs’ agent refuted that, saying his client was in the building doing everything he needed to do.
The contention between Diggs and the Bills reached such a fever pitch that McDermott opted to cancel the final day of the minicamp altogether. While we will likely never get the full story about what is irking Diggs, he is reportedly not thrilled about restructuring his contract and the team still not being able to acquire wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins from the Arizona Cardinals.
Hopkins is now a free agent, so the Bills could still make a move for him. However, there is a chance that Diggs may not be on the roster should that occur.
According to NFL Insider Benjamin Albright, while making an appearance on the “Broncos Country Tonight” podcast, there is a chance the Bills actually move on from Diggs. The All-Pro isn’t being shopped by the team but would privately consider it in the right situation.
“I talked to some people in Buffalo on the condition of anonymity and they said that, ‘Publicly, we’re not moving him. Privately, we would consider it under the right circumstances.’” (H/T Howard Cosmell of Total Pro Sports)
It would be a shocking turn of events if the Bills traded Diggs. Already short on established wide receivers, trading him would potentially torpedo the entire offense. Gabriel Davis, Khalil Shakir, Trent Sherfield and Deonte Harty fill out the depth chart behind Diggs, so his absence would be felt greatly.
If the Bills were serious about moving on from Diggs, they would get a huge haul in return. Davante Adams and Tyreek Hill both commanded strong trade packages but were built around draft capital. For a team looking to win a Super Bowl like the Bills, trading Diggs would not help them move any closer to that goal.
