The Bills’ start to mandatory minicamp wasn’t without its fair share of drama. Everyone was in attendance on Tuesday — minus one very important player. Star wideout Stefon Diggs did not report for Day 1 of camp, and head coach Sean McDermott told reporters he was “very concerned” about the situation. Diggs returned to the field for practice Wednesday, seemingly clearing up speculation he might be frustrated with the organization.
McDermott also told reporters Wednesday that the team is “in a good spot” with Diggs and added, “I feel like it’s resolved.” He explained that his “very concerned” characterization of the situation about Diggs was due to his importance to the team and said that he gave the wideout permission to leave after things reached a point that they needed a break.
Diggs’ agent, Adisa Bakari, previously addressed the situation late Tuesday (via ESPN). Bakari said Diggs had been in Buffalo since Monday morning, took a physical and even met with McDermott and general manager Brandon Beane. Bakari said Diggs “will be there for the entirety of the minicamp.” He simply wasn’t on the field Tuesday.
According to CBS Sports NFL Insider Jonathan Jones, Diggs was indeed present at the team facilities on Monday and Tuesday morning, but left before the beginning of practice. Whatever issue caused his absence was not related to Diggs’ contract, per NFL Media.
After the practice session, Bills quarterback Josh Allen told reporters that the issue was not related to football.
“I know internally we’re working on some things. Not football-related, but Stef, he’s my guy,” Allen said. “Excuse my … I f*****g love him. He’s a brother of mine. This does not work, what we’re doing here, without him.
“But I’ve got his back no matter what.”
When Allen was asked to elaborate about Diggs’ absence not being related to football, he said this:
“I mean I think it has more to do than just football, is what I’m basically saying,” Allen said. “I think there’s the football piece, one, and then stuff that happens due to football. And I’ll just kind of keep it at that.”
Diggs broke his silence with an Instagram story on Tuesday night that read “I just be letting people cap. If them lies help you sleep better tell em big dog.”
Diggs is coming off another monster campaign in which he caught 108 passes for 1,429 yards and a career-high 11 touchdowns in 16 games played. He accounted for 29% of the Bills’ receptions in 2022, which was tied for the third-highest rate in the NFL last year.
This past season marked Diggs’ third as a member of the Bills. He has played in 49 career games for Buffalo, and already ranks No. 8 in franchise history in receiving yards (4,189) and tied for No. 6 in receiving touchdowns (29).
Just last offseason, Diggs agreed to a four-year, $104 million extension that includes $70 million guaranteed. The extension tied Diggs to Buffalo for six years at $124.1 million. This March, the Bills restructured Diggs’ contract, converting base salary into a bonus to create $5.4 million in cap space for Buffalo.
This is certainly a curious situation even with McDermott relaying his belief that things are resolved. We have no evidence to claim Diggs wants out of Buffalo, but as NFL Media points out, trading Diggs isn’t feasible due to the amount of dead cap space that would come from it. Diggs is reportedly making $24.415 million in 2023, including a $22.745 million signing bonus that was part of the restructure.
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Author: Jordan Dajani
June 14, 2023 | 3:34 pm
