Why Stefon Diggs Trade Is Unlikely Despite Bills Minicamp Holdout

The Buffalo Bills received an unexpected surprise on the first day of mandatory minicamp Tuesday.

Stefon Diggs was the lone no-show, and head coach Sean McDermott told reporters he was “very concerned” about his star receiver’s absence, per The Athletic’s Joe Buscaglia.

WGRZ’s Adam Benigni and Vic Carucci reported Diggs was with the team Monday for pre-minicamp testing. Tuesday’s no-show highlighted previous concerns from Bills fans since their team’s 2023 playoff exit.

During the end of Buffalo’s divisional-round loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, Diggs was seen yelling at quarterback Josh Allen and his other teammates. The outburst was played down by Allen and McDermott, and Diggs used his competitive nature to explain his reaction to Buffalo failing to reach the Super Bowl again.

Fear from Bills fans escalated further when Twitter posts from Diggs’ brother and the receiver himself sparked speculation over a potential departure similar to how the All-Pro forced an exit from the Minnesota Vikings.

Diggs signed a four-year, $96 million contract extension last offseason to make him one of the highest-paid receivers in the league, so the only conclusion fans came up with Tuesday was a trade.

But that would be financially difficult to work out.

Diggs will make $24.41 million in 2023, including a $22.74 million signing bonus as part of a March restructure, according to NFL Media’s Tom Tom Pelissero. This means if Buffalo trades the star receiver, it takes on $13.2 million of dead money in 2023 and $31.1 million in 2024, according to Over the Cap’s Jason Fitzgerald.

There simply is no benefit for the Bills to trade Diggs, even if the ninth-year wideout wants one. That leads to the main question on everyone’s mind: What does Diggs want?

It’s possible he wants the front office to do more to upgrade the team’s offense — his contract restructure opened up cap space for Buffalo. The only significant upgrades made this offseason were signing former New England Patriots running back Damien Harris and drafting highly-touted tight end Dalton Kincaid.

The Bills have been linked to DeAndre Hopkins, who reportedly is visiting the Patriots this week. And Diggs’ holdout might signal he wants Buffalo to make a stronger push to improve the roster by signing Hopkins rather than roll out a similar receiver corps from last season.