Months later, and I still don’t understand what the Buffalo Bills were thinking. While another team famously moved on from Stefon Diggs previously, the Minnesota Vikings were able to secure another superstar wide receiver in Justin Jefferson. He may have been incredible in college at LSU, but nobody saw this coming. Meanwhile, Buffalo is counting on Keon Coleman to be his heir apparent.
It wasn’t just moving on from Diggs that was strange. It was the fact that Buffalo willingly traded him to a fellow contender in the AFC in the upstart Houston Texans. The Texans could be a sexy pick to win the AFC and get to the Super Bowl. They massively overachieved last year, but head coach DeMeco Ryans seems to be the real deal, as is their second-year starting quarterback C.J. Stroud.
Diggs talked at Texans training camp about how quickly his rapport with Stroud is coming along.
“I’m not going to say everything is perfect, but you see us kind of getting on that same page here and there. Getting on the same page play after play, and that communication — that open line of communication — I feel like that’s going to really separate it, seeing that we have such a small period of time.”
Diggs admitted that he has been around the block a few times, but recognizes Stroud’s talent.
“But this isn’t my first rodeo, and I’m not, by any means, reinventing the wheel. This is the same football we’ve been playing since we were 5. And [Stroud] is special. I think everybody kind of knows that.”
Stroud also spoke complimentary of his new wide receiver, saying that he loves the game so much.
“He’s somebody who loves the game and doesn’t cheat it, and that’s why he’s been successful and I think he’ll continue that success. I’m blessed enough to, hopefully, be a part of that. That’s some things that just stuck out to me. Just how personable he is, how relatable he is. He’s really friendly and very vocal, so it’s really nice to have him around.”
All the while, I am wondering how Josh Allen and the rest of the Bills offense feels about this trade.
Connection between Stefon Diggs and C.J. Stroud should irk Buffalo
For someone to be good in the NFL, somebody else has to be bad. Wins are a scarce resource, as there are only so many to be had. Not to say that Buffalo will be bad this season by any reasonable stretch of the imagination. I just don’t think they will be as good as they think they will be. I am afraid they have wasted their Super Bowl window, mostly because Sean McDermott does not have it in him.
Trading away Diggs was a terrible look optically, but again, I am not inside the building at Orchard Park. There could be a lot more to this than outsiders may even realize, but it is always odd to say the least when a team willingly trades away one of its top-five players during this stage of its competitive life cycle, especially to one you are supposedly competing with. Make it make sense! Not sure I can…
Ultimately, Houston is an ascending team, while Buffalo may have hit its definite ceiling with this core. Allen is still a fantastic quarterback to build around, but he may not be getting to, and possibly winning, his first Super Bowl until we have a different regime calling the shots in Orchard Park. At some point, the Bills will have to face the man in the mirror and be honest that they didn’t get it done.
All I know is I would trust Houston more to dethrone the Kansas City Chiefs than I would Buffalo now.
Next. 30 greatest players to never win a Super Bowl. 30 greatest players to never win a Super Bowl. dark
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