Diggs traded to Texans for picks

[Ballhawk]

It sure looks like this is going to be a let's be as competitive as we can be this year and re-tool for next year. As much as I get that trading Diggs was the right (and perhaps only) move given his apparent discontent I'm still sad to see him go.

 

I think he's actually one of, if not, the best route runners we've ever had. Can't wait to hear Josh's take on this, I can't help but remember his repeated interviews where he said the Diggs stuff was nonsense driven by the media. Guess he was wrong.

[SCBills]

2 minutes ago, buffblue said:

If all we're eating is an additional 4 million cap hit this year to get free next year, I'm not horribly upset by this. Need to see what comes next

 

Also, we free up a ton of money next year, no?

 

Guys can be signed on minimal deals this year with void years or on 2-3 year deals with money backloaded into next year if that's a move.

 

I'd be surprised if we trade for a guy, but not shocked... what I could see is a WR-centric early Draft with some moves made and then a WR that becomes available ala Hopkins last year, has our sights set on him post 6/1. 

[babulator]

If you're being honest with yourselves getting a 2nd round pick for Diggs is a solid trade. He's simply not worth a 1st, but you could probably make an argument for a 3rd to be truthful. Diggs was brought in to be the big gun, he's regressed or aged to sort of an intermediate or even slot type guy. All the balls he caught last year will be easily scooped up by Kincaid and Shakir this year. We need someone that can take the top of the field, open up room for Kincaid and Shakir, someone ideally that won't disappear in big games. Diggs was not that guy, it was time. Thanks for the memories.

[Success]

If the pick they got is the one that allows them to trade up further and get one of the top 3 guys in this year's draft - this will turn out to be a fantastic move.

 

[Dablitzkrieg]

10 minutes ago, Coach Tuesday said:

Yup.  The extension was a reaction to pressure from Diggs and now the trade is a reaction to pressure from Diggs (Houston was his preferred destination) and so Beane has just put a “kick me” sign on his own nuts.  All of the agents know now that Beane is easy to manipulate.

That's pretty bold

[Mr. WEO]

but, but, but...."he's not going anywhere"!!

 

Clearly McBeane had enough of this guy dogging it down the stretch.

 

He will make a decent WR2/3 in Houston

[appoo]

1 minute ago, Alphadawg7 said:

 

Its not the trade that is a surprise, I fully expected him to be traded next offseason.  The surprise was to do it now instead of after June 1st to reduce the cap hits given we didn't get back a draft pick in this draft.  

How would waiting for June 1 reduce the cap hits? Hes not getting cut 

[HappyDays]

2 minutes ago, Royale with Cheese said:

I text my friend that after the long bomb TD catch, Diggs just high 5 teammates and jogged off the field….I said something is up.  Diggs didn’t seem into it anymore.

 

Yeah that's the punchline of the whole thing - The ensuing drive they intentionally dialed up a deep shot to Diggs on the first play to get his head back in the game. Allen overthrew him 🤣

 

Edited April 3 by HappyDays

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

15 minutes ago, TheyCallMeAndy said:

Teams can do whatever they want, we’ve seen teams include cash in trades before. 

 

You cannot trade cap space.  It would likely get negated as a violation of the CBA.  You can trade the player and their contract, and i suppose u could include cash, but that isn't going to expand their cap pool.  

[LarryMadman]

I could have envisioned Diggs becoming more of a malcontent this year as Kincaid, Shakir, Samuel, Knox, Cook etc get more targets because Diggs just isn't as good as he used to be. Add in the friction he brings behind the scenes and it seems Beane and McD didn't want any part of that. IDK if i'm totally sold on the process anymore as it has yet to produce a SB but you definantly do not want a locker room cancer guy.

Edited April 3 by LarryMadman

[Mister Defense]

45 minutes ago, Roundybout said:

What a joke. The best receiver we’ve had in 20 years and away he goes. Pathetic. Looks like more of a step back this season than I thought. 

 

Diggs certainly did not look like that great receiver we once knew in the second half of last year.  He dropped balls even a poor receiver catches and his body language and demeanor usually indicated he was not into the game, not a real part of this team anymore.

 

In my view it was either because he has lost more than just a step and some skills, or just doesn't care, was angry at someone, something for not making him the star of the universe.

 

A great receiver for years here, and for that I am grateful, but a selfish, narcissistic head case now.  He was the only important Bill starter in recent memory who clearly did not fit in with this team's culture--and because of that, undermined their mission.

 

For those reasons I say, good riddance.  The Bills will be a better team next year without him.

 

My only regret upon finding this out was that Diggs did not get traded to the Jets, so he can have a quarterback with the same traits as himself throwing him the ball.  It would have been fun to play them!

 

[stlbills13]

Just now, appoo said:

Bills absolutely need someone to win deep routes.  But they didn’t have that with Diggs.

 

They have 3 guys who can win routes underneath and intermediate now 

Agree. And even though Diggs sucked at the end of the year he did take attention off Shakir, Kincaid, Knox, etc. 

 

They still need to add a starter to the WR room. But in Joe Brady's offense, I'm not sure you need a top 8 WR to succeed. 

[Bills Fan in MD]

On 12/25/2023 at 7:58 PM, Mopreme said:

Sorry for asking but do we want the Ravens to win or lose tonight? 

 

On 1/6/2024 at 7:39 PM, Ethan in Cleveland said:

I love this scenario.  Win or bust. 

Perfect one game referendum on McDermott. 

Win he should stay. 

Lose and no playoffs he should go!

 

 

On 1/15/2024 at 4:58 PM, Thrivefourfive said:

Okay, Allen. Please let’s not miss WIDE OPEN WRs. 

 

On 2/27/2024 at 4:54 PM, GoBills808 said:

hate to admit it but KC just gets it 

 

3 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

You know what, now is a good time to spill the beans on what I was told earlier this year - In the home Patriots game, Diggs chose to sit out the first drive of the 2nd half because he was upset with Allen's play in the 1st half. It wasn't an injury or part of the game plan. He decided to screw over his team and sit out a drive because he couldn't get over himself.

 

I suspect other stories like this will come out in the coming days. A couple aren't mine to tell. Guy was a total headcase and a major distraction in more ways than one.

 

Make you wonder if Houston was a bit star struck when they agreed to the trade.  I'm not sure I'd put a promising young rookie QB in this situation.

[Big Blitz]

5 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

You know what, now is a good time to spill the beans on what I was told last year - In the home Patriots game, Diggs chose to sit out the first drive of the 2nd half because he was upset with Allen's play in the 1st half. It wasn't an injury or part of the game plan. He decided to screw over his team and sit out a drive because he couldn't get over himself.

 

I suspect other stories like this will come out in the coming days. A couple aren't mine to tell. Guy was a total headcase and a major distraction in more ways than one.

 

We started that 3rd Q by going 75 yards for a TD in 4 minutes.  Diggs was not on the field.  

[harmonkillebrew]

Do we get any cap relief this year? what FA WRs are still available? 

[davefan66]

Just now, Mango said:

 

Using round numbers it is $28M on the roster $31M off the roster. Effectively trading Diggs only costs us an additional $3M compared to keeping him. 

 

Got it!

 

Is there dead money next year also?  If not, not a bad move IMHO.

[Dablitzkrieg]

2 minutes ago, appoo said:

Bills absolutely need someone to win deep routes.  But they didn’t have that with Diggs.

 

They have 3 guys who can win routes underneath and intermediate now 

2...they need 2 of those players

[DrMaxPower]

Thanks for everything Stef but had to be done.

 

The guys attitude and behavior was a black cloud hanging over the org.

 

I figured they were stuck 1 more year due to contract. I think the fact they moved now shows how toxic things had gotten.

[Murdox]

42 minutes ago, No_Matter_What said:

Wow the compensation seems brutal.

 

Anyway, like I said, he was always tradeable this year. I just thought it would be for 1st this year so we can draft his replacement. This seems crazy.

 

His cap hit was too high so we couldn't get too much for him, and there may even be some questions on his speed and elusiveness after he disappeared last year against the good corners.  But, it frees up our cap quite a bit over the next few years.  Next year may be a bit of a down year due to lack of talent/experience, but Beane is trying to ensure the second half of Allen's career has some upside.

Edited April 3 by Murdox

[akm0404]

Remember when Josh was heroically putting the team on his back in the playoffs and dropped an absolute dime deep ball right into Diggs hands who dropped it and jogged back laughing holding his hands in a "it was THIS CLOSE" gesture as if in some universe where the ball was 2 inches lower he wouldn't have blown the entire season?  Pepperidge Farm remembers.

[buffblue]

Just now, first_and_ten said:

 

 

WGR is saying we're eating 31 million. Who's right??

We were at a 27-28 million hit before the trade. Now it's 31 million. So only a few million additional cap hit was added. It's just all dead now

[Alphadawg7]

1 minute ago, DrDawkinstein said:

 

The draft is before June 1. Thats why.

 

Well at first thought, we got no picks in this draft.  But if we wanted to be comfortable using next years assets to make a big move up, then I guess it makes some sense.  

[KDIGGZ]

Houston is building their team right. Going all in on OFFENSE. This is an offensive league and whoever scores the most points wins. The Bills are trying to run the ball more and play good defense. Someone needs to tell this isn't 2005

[L Ron Burgundy]

5 minutes ago, skibum said:

It was already looking like a proper rebuild, but I think the fans were in denial. Now there’s no hiding it. Unless Beane has something up his sleeve - like flipping this pick for some other vet WR1, Josh Allen will be throwing to a bunch of rooks and jags this year.

I think this is right.  1 year rebuild unless something crazy changes.  It's a bummer but may be for the best.  The team as constructed could not win the super bowl.  

 

I wonder if they see next year's draft as better than this years.

[Buffalo_Stampede]

Let’s be real though, Bills have wasted a ton of cap space over the last few years.

[DCOrange]

My attempt to convince myself the sky isn't falling:

• A lot of people believe Kincaid will turn into a go-to receiver.
• A lot of people believe Shakir is blossoming into a good starter.
• A lot of people believe Curtis Samuel is a good starter.
• It's still a very deep WR class with a ton of guys that project as starting caliber WRs.
• The Chiefs just won the Super Bowl in which their top receivers were a declining (albeit still very good) Travis Kelce, Rashee Rice, and Marques Valdes-Scantling.

If all of that stuff is true, we should still have a pretty good group of receivers even without trading up in the draft and probably a better group than some of the other contenders have had recently.

 

I don't know how much of that I actually believe though lol.

[london_bills]

I hope there's a way we can get a stud receiver and the centre powers Johnson 

[Jrb1979]

2 minutes ago, stevestojan said:

The group that absolutely hates this move, and is acting as if we just lost Jerry Rice in his prime - these are the same folks that said he was washed for the entire second half of last year, right? 

It's not about losing Diggs. It's the dead cap space. 

[Hsker4life]

5 minutes ago, Jauronimo said:

The Chiefs received a little more than a future 2nd and a 6th but I like the optimism.  

True. But Hill at 27 was a much better WR than Diggs at 30.

[Cray51]

Beane needs to earn his money now.  Go get a top 4 WR in this draft (Harrison/Nabers/Odunze/Thomas Jr)

 

Grab another in the 3rd via trade back in the second.  Maybe a Legette falls.

 

Go into the season with a WR room locked down for the next 3 years and build a damn championship team

[DrDawkinstein]

Just now, Alphadawg7 said:

 

Well at first thought, we got no picks in this draft.  But if we wanted to be comfortable using next years assets to make a big move up, then I guess it makes some sense.  

 

Yeah, the idea of trading next years 1st with this years 1st and 2nd to move up makes a lot of sense now.

[Alphadawg7]

1 minute ago, appoo said:

How would waiting for June 1 reduce the cap hits? Hes not getting cut 

 

I thought if we traded him after June 1st people were saying his cap hit this year would be a lot less.  That seemed to be what everyone was saying in the big Diggs thread. 

[MikePJ76]

I would just like to say The Yankees beat the Astros so bad last weekend the entire city panicked and the texans made this trade.

 

😀

[first_and_ten]

Just now, buffblue said:

We were at a 27-28 million hit before the trade. Now it's 31 million. So only a few million additional cap hit was added. It's just all dead now

 

Beane better know what he's doing

[Chaos]

Bold 2024  prediction:  Bills face Texans in the divisonal round of the playoffs.  Josh Allen single handedly brings the team back twice from Q4 deficits.  However the second time in the quarter he puts the Bills ahead by 6, he scored too fast, leaving a full minute on the clock.  Texans come back to win on the last series with a Stroud to Diggs TD pass.  We will have a long discussion how Brady and Allen need to learn to milk the clock to the last play of the game, because we can't expect the defense to hold any sort of lead in Q4 of a playoff game. 

[4thandGoal]

5 minutes ago, buffaloboyinATL said:

Amen. The over-reaction on this board is hilarious.

 

And for everyone bitching that it is "only" a 2nd round pick, we also got a 6th this year, and a 5th next year.  Those picks matter when you are reloading the roster.

I do not think we are the ones getting the 5th and 6th--- I believe we are sending those to Houston

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

Just now, Buffalo_Stampede said:

Let’s be real though, Bills have wasted a ton of cap space over the last few years.

 

The only way to fix it is to draft well.  

[Utah John]

I could kinda sorta get behind this trade if it came with a pick in this year's draft, when there are all those good receivers to be had.  But not until next year?  Boy this year is going to be a struggle.

[BBFL]

3 minutes ago, NoSaint said:

clearly not the plan.
 

Wont be shocked if we are trading up for a bigger name in the draft with that ammo. 
 

a 1 and 2 plus who knows what else (or next years 1 and we keep the extra 2) might get you up to the WR3 or 4 off the board and those are guys you expect to be a true WR1 at this level. 
 

 

100% they’re taking a WR. Seems like there’s little other option. My concern isn’t that, my concern is immediately replacing the production that’s being sent out the door. 
 

Love him or hate him, over the course of a whole season he far and above facilitated the QB more than the guys we have on the books right now. 
 

Hope whoever this rookie is that they are the real deal. 

[Buffalo_Stampede]

The goat never misses.