Bills Trade Stefon Diggs to Texans

The unhappy marriage between the Bills and wide receiver Stefon Diggs has come to an end as the Bills have traded Diggs away to the Texans.

The Bills extended Diggs in 2022 to a massive $24 million per year contract extension that came with $70 million in guaranteed money. Though Diggs was productive with 1,400 yards in 2022 and nearly 1,200 yards in 2023 there seemed to be issues right from the start with how Diggs felt he was being utilized and seemed to be almost an afterthought in the postseason. This likely winds up being a another in a long list of 3^rd contracts that teams will wish they had back.

Diggs will carry $31.096 million in dead money for the Bills, a record for a non-QB by about $4 million. The prior record was for an in-season trade where salary was picked up by the team. The team will lose about $4 million in net cap space with the trade. Diggs was originally under contract in 2022 and 2023 and the new contract signed by the Bills wound up giving a raise of just under $20.9 million for those two seasons. They could have walked free and clear had they not signed the extension. Now they will have paid that extra money to come back with a 2^nd round pick while also giving up a 6^th and a 5^th which makes this an incredibly expensive trade.

That said this was making the most of a bad situation by the Bills. Diggs’ salary was guaranteed for the year and there was no way for the team to really release him given their salary cap situation. They needed to find a trade partner and this is the best they could do. They will save $19.005 million in cash and now have him off the books for 2025 so they will be in an $19.005 million better position with the salary cap next season.

For Houston this gives them another potential dynamic fit in their offense if they can manage the egos. Diggs will cost $19.005 million this year and has a non-guaranteed salary of $18.505 million in 2025. $3.5 million of that salary is injury protected. There are also non-guaranteed years in 2026 and 2027 worth $19.6 million and $18 million respectively.