The Houston Texans are making big moves and attempting to take the next step from being a surprise playoff team to being an honest-to-goodness Super Bowl contender. They continued to upgrade their roster Wednesday by agreeing to a trade with the Buffalo Bills to add star wide receiver Stefon Diggs.
The Texans won the AFC South last season with standout rookie C.J. Stroud at quarterback. Next season, Stroud should have far more help as the Texans try to challenge the Kansas City Chiefs, the Baltimore Ravens and others for AFC supremacy.
The Texans agreed to send a second-round draft pick in 2025 to the Bills for Diggs, a sixth-round pick in this month's draft and a fifth-rounder in 2025. The second-round selection going to the Bills is a pick the Texans obtained from the Minnesota Vikings.
Diggs turns 31 in November. He has been accused, at times, of displaying some of the diva tendencies associated with many of the NFL's top wide receivers. On the eve of the trade, Diggs responded via social media Tuesday to an assertion that he wasn't "essential" to the success of Bills quarterback Josh Allen. Diggs wrote, "You sure?"
But he is undeniably productive. He had the most catches in the NFL over the past four seasons while being selected to four straight Pro Bowls during his Bills tenure.
The Texans were wise and fortunate last year when they landed Stroud with the No. 2 choice in the draft after the Carolina Panthers used the top pick on fellow quarterback Bryce Young. While Young struggled in Carolina, Stroud immediately demonstrated he is a bona fide franchise quarterback as he was named the offensive rookie of the year.
With Stroud flourishing and DeMeco Ryans thriving as a first-year coach, the Texans went 10-7. That came after they totaled 11 victories over the previous three seasons. The Texans reached the postseason for the first time in four years, beating the Cleveland Browns in an opening-round game before losing a divisional-round matchup to the Ravens.
Ryans and General Manager Nick Caserio certainly have been active this offseason. The Texans traded for tailback Joe Mixon and signed free agent pass rusher Danielle Hunter.
The arrival of Diggs could make the offense formidable. He joins Tank Dell and Nico Collins to give Stroud an imposing trio of wideouts. Dalton Schultz is a capable pass-catcher at tight end. The Texans have gone beyond having a promising future. Their time is now.
The Bills announced the trade later Wednesday.
"It wasn't easy," General Manager Brandon Beane said at a news conference. "But it was with a lot of thought, discussion, conversation at the highest levels of our organization. It was made [in] what we believe was the best interests of the Bills."
Beane acknowledged the Bills are "probably not" improved after making the trade. But there remains time before the season, he said, to continue reworking the roster. Beane said he alerted Allen to the possibility of Diggs being traded. He declined to specify whether Diggs or his representatives requested a trade.
"You're trying to win," Beane said. "Sometimes people may not see that. This is by no means the Bills giving up or trying to take a step back or anything like that."
Diggs said his farewell to the Bills and their fans Wednesday night on social media. He wrote that he couldn't "begin to express the amount of love and respect I have for the city of Buffalo" and called his time with the Bills "[f]our of the best years of my life."
He also wrote: "Something special was built over these years with some very special men, that will always have a place in my heart.... Sadly good things come to an end until we meet again."
The Bills move on from Diggs's $19.005 million compensation for next season (an $18.5 million salary that became fully guaranteed last month plus bonuses totaling $505,000). It has been a changing-of-the-guard offseason for the Bills in which they released mainstays such as safety Jordan Poyer, cornerback Tre'Davious White and center Mitch Morse. Wide receiver Gabe Davis exited in free agency.
The Bills added wideouts Curtis Samuel and Mack Hollins as free agents. They have a promising holdover in Khalil Shakir. The wide receiver class is considered one of the strengths of this year's draft. As long as Allen remains in Buffalo, the Bills will be in the conversation to vie for division titles and perhaps more. But this has the feel of a mini-reset, at least. The supporting cast around Allen is getting a makeover. The Bills must hope it ends up being for the better.
Diggs leaves the Bills after four seasons in which he totaled 445 catches for 5,372 yards and 37 touchdowns. He was named first-team all-pro in 2020. He teamed with Allen to form one of the league's most productive combinations. The Bills were annual contenders, winning four straight AFC East crowns. But they failed to break through during the postseason to get the franchise back to the Super Bowl.
Diggs began his NFL career with five seasons with the Vikings. He has 810 catches for 9,995 yards and 67 touchdowns in his nine seasons.
Now he moves on to the third chapter of his NFL career, attempting to help Stroud and the Texans take the Super Bowl step he could not pull off with Allen and the Bills.
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