C.J. Stroud’s outstanding rookie season has prompted Houston Texans general manager Nick Caserio to bolster his roster. The Texans have acquired standout wide receiver Stefon Diggs from the Buffalo Bills in a stunning transaction. The Bills will receive a 2025 second-round pick from Houston, which was previously owned by the Minnesota Vikings. The Texans acquire Diggs, a sixth-round pick in 2024, and a fifth-round pick in 2025. The deal was first reported by ESPN and later confirmed by the Buffalo Bills. Diggs, 30, a four-time Pro Bowler, will join Texans wide receivers Nico Collins and Tank Dell, as well as tight end Dalton Schultz, to form a dangerous talent group. The downfield burner Dell is also recovering from a broken leg, so Diggs’ presence strengthens the Texans’ Week 1 arsenal regardless of how Dell’s return to full strength goes. The Texans have signed Diggs, former Vikings pass rusher Danielle Hunter, and former Bengals running back Joe Mixon this summer after defeating the Cleveland Browns 45-14 in last year’s AFC wild-card round before falling to the Baltimore Ravens 34-10. Meanwhile, Diggs’ trade with the Bills solidifies Buffalo’s significant reset.
Allen is still one of the finest quarterbacks in the NFL, but the window for this Bills team has closed with multiple veteran releases and now Diggs’ trade. In the spring of 2022, Buffalo extended Diggs’ contract for four years and $96 million. So the Bills will eat some dead money from that deal for several years while Houston receives the remainder of the contract. Diggs was Allen’s primary target after the Bills acquired him in a 2020 trade with the Minnesota Vikings. Allen’s rise coincided with Diggs’ addition. In his debut season of play in Orchard Park, New York, the wide receiver was awarded first-team All-Pro.
However, Diggs became unhappy in recent years after not seeing enough targets in important playoff spots. Diggs then lost a deep Allen pass in the fourth quarter, contributing to the Buffalo Bills’ 27-24 home divisional playoff loss to the eventual Super Bowl winner Kansas City Chiefs. Diggs’ trade to Houston demonstrates that the Giants can find a No. 1 wide receiver on the trade market, not simply in the draft.
However, Giants general manager Joe Schoen traded his No. 39 overall choice in the second round for Carolina Panthers pass rusher Brian Burns. The Texans expressed interest in former Giants running back Saquon Barkley early in his free agency this year, but he ultimately signed with the Philadelphia Eagles instead. So Caserio went out and recruited another proven weapon, bolstering Houston’s hopes for a deeper playoff run in 2024.
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