Buffalo Bills GM Brandon Beane (left) and wide receiver Stefon Diggs (right) both looking on.Brandon Beane and Stefon Diggs (Photos via Getty Images)
Buffalo Bills general manager Brandon Beane offered a surprise reason behind the team’s decision to trade All-Pro wide receiver Stefon Diggs to the Houston Texans earlier this offseason.

Last month, the Bills traded Stefon Diggs, along with two late-round picks, to the Texans in exchange for a 2025 second-round draft choice. Diggs then agreed to a reworked deal with Houston that will make him a free agent after the 2024 season.

There had been growing speculation that Diggs was unhappy in Buffalo, and that his antics were becoming too much for the team. But during his appearance on “The Athletic Football Show”, Beane offered a completely different reason behind the decision to trade his Pro Bowl wideout.

Beane cited the salary cap as the main factor behind the trade, noting that Buffalo didn’t want to have too much money tied up into one player:

“A player of his caliber, you weigh a lot of things in those situations. But ultimately, we just talked about the cap. I don’t need to go through all the reasons why we decided to go ahead and do that. I would say, from a cap standpoint, we decided just to go ahead and eat it now.

We think we can compete and do what we need to do by eating it now. And not next year. Because if we didn’t, if we tried to come up with some way to split it up too many different ways, then now it’s just like that albatross hanging on your neck all year. You look at your cap and you’re going, Look how much money we still have dead.”

In trading Stefon Diggs, the Bills took on a massive $31.096 dead money hit for 2024. But his old deal with Buffalo was set to run through 2027, so the trade helps their cap situation in the long term.

Over his four seasons in Buffalo, Diggs compiled 445 receptions for 5,372 yards and 37 touchdowns. He exceeded the 100-catch and 1,100-yard marks every year, helping Buffalo to four straight AFC East division crowns.

Stefon Diggs Trade Was Best For All Parties

Stefon Diggs didn’t appear to be all that keen on staying in Buffalo long-term, and the Bills had to decide if he was in or out long-term. On top of that, quarterback Josh Allen became overly reliant on Diggs in the passing game, so a trade just made too much sense for everyone involved.

Buffalo was able to reshape their receiving room following the Diggs trade. The new faces include Curtis Samuel, rookie Keon Coleman and two-time Super Bowl champion Marques Valdes-Scantling.

Diggs, meanwhile, gets the chance to shine on an up-and-coming Texans team led by superstar quarterback CJ Stroud. If he fares well there, Diggs might play himself towards a contract extension.

AFC Powerhouse Lands Vikings WR Justin Jefferson In Blockbuster Trade Proposal That Would Make Them The Team To Beat Over The Chiefs

Justin Jefferson of Minnesota Vikings looking on.Justin Jefferson (Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)
Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson has been widely mentioned in trade rumors this offseason, simply because the two sides have yet to reach a contract extension.

Justin Jefferson is entering the fifth and final year of his rookie deal. Given his status as the best wide receiver in football, it’s noteworthy that the two sides have failed to find ground on a new deal.

There aren’t indicators on either end that a trade is inevitable. But what if if Vikings GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah gets an offer he can’t refuse for the soon-to-be 25-year-old?

Bleacher Report’s Alex Ballentine proposed a league-changing trade proposal idea that has Minnesota trading Justin Jefferson to the Cincinnati Bengals in exchange for fellow star wideout Tee Higgins and 2025 first and third-round picks:

“The LSU trio of Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase and Justin Jefferson was the engine behind one of college football’s greatest offenses in 2019.

If they were reunited, they would undoubtedly do the same to the league. The Bengals’ battery of Burrow and Chase is already one of the best quarterback-wide receiver connections in the league when they are both healthy. Adding Jefferson to that mix would be unfair to defenses around the league.”

Ja’Marr Chase is arguably the second-best receiver in football behind Jefferson, so it would be downright unfair if Joe Burrow had the luxury of throwing to the both of them.

Regarding Ballentine’s proposal, it certainly feels fair for both sides. Minnesota would be getting a new No. 1 receiver in Higgins, plus two valuable early-round selections to bolster their roster.

But the Bengals still have to extend Chase and don’t appear keen on keeping Higgins long-term, so it’s unlikely they would complete a trade for Jefferson without agreeing to a new deal ahead of time. Nonetheless, it’s still fun to envision Chase and Jefferson playing together.

Vikings Need To Pay Justin Jefferson

If the Vikings listened to trade offers for Jefferson, there wouldn’t be a shortage of compelling offers coming their way.

But the odds of Minnesota getting equal or greater value in a Jefferson trade are awfully slim. The organization’s best bet is to pay the league’s best-non quarterback what he’s worth, because players of Jefferson’s caliber do not come around very often.