HOW THE STEFON DIGGS TRADE FROM BILLS TO TEXANS IMPACTS BOTH TEAMS

So Stefon Diggs finally got his wish, a one-way ticket out of Buffalo, what he probably can’t believe is they traded him to the hottest, young team in the NFL, the Houston Texans.

Diggs recently responded to a social media user's comment that he wasn't essential to Bills quarterback Josh Allen's success, to which Diggs replied, "You sure?"

Trading Diggs is one thing, but trading him to the up-and-coming Houston Texans is a ridiculous move by the Buffalo Bills. I can only imagine the reaction Texans, GM Nick Caserio had when his secretary told him, we have the Buffalo Bills on line 2.

INSIDE THE DEAL
The Buffalo Bills are reportedly finalizing a trade that would send Stefon Diggs, a four-time Pro Bowl wide receiver, to the Houston Texans in exchange for draft-pick compensation. Sources informed ESPN's Adam Schefter of this development on Wednesday.

As part of the trade, the Bills would receive a 2025 second-round pick (via the Minnesota Vikings), while sending Diggs, a 2024 sixth-round pick, and a 2025 fifth-round pick to the Texans. The Texans had acquired the pick from the Vikings in a previous trade, where they sent their 2024 first-round pick to Minnesota last month.

IMPACT ON THE BUFFALO BILLS

On paper trading away Diggs is a huge blow to the Buffalo Bills offense which also lost Gabe Davis to the Jacksonville Jaguars during NFL free agency.  Combine Diggs and Davis caught 152 passes for 1,929 receiving yards. This is a huge loss for Josh Allen who threw for over 4,300 yards last season. 

Stefon Diggs career stats:

During the past season, Diggs had frequently and publicly shown his commitment to the Bills, stating his wish to retire with the team. He went on to sign a four-year, $104 million contract extension in April 2022.

From a cap perspective following the trade, the Bills are set to incur a dead money charge of $31.096 million for the next season, as reported by the Roster Management System. This will be the highest-known dead money charge ever for a wide receiver in a single season, based on research from ESPN Stats & Information.

For the BIlls, this was yet another made to reshape a team that has underperformed in the playoffs in the last couple of seasons. The moves the Bills made this offseason, have been dramatic across the board this offseason which includes releasing cornerstone defensive players Tre'Davious White and Jordan Poyer and starting center Mitch Morse in salary cap moves. In addition, receiver Gabriel Davis signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars, and outside linebacker Leonard Floyd signed with the San Francisco 49ers in free agency.

If you are a Bills fan, this is an attempt by the team to get out of salary cap hell while trying to not go down the path of a full rebuild, but outside of Josh Allen and a few other key offensive weapons, this looks and feels like a major rebuild.  

IMPACT ON THE HOUSTON TEXANS
The reality is the Texans just added Diggs who may be on a slight decline but is still fully capable of catching 100 passes for 1,000 yards. Pairing Diggs with Nico Collins and assuming Tank Dell comes back fully healthy will make the trio arguably the best in the NFL which must put a smile on C.J. Strouds' face.

Upon the news of the trade, ESPN BET moved the Texans from +140 to +115 to win the AFC South, from 11-1 to +750 to win the AFC, and from 22-1 to 18-1 to win the Super Bowl.