The Buffalo Bills front office has had to make a number of tough decisions this offseason, and early last month, the team’s key decision makers orchestrated a high-profile trade involving star wide receiver Stefon Diggs.
Diggs, a four-time Pro Bowl player, agreed to a four-year, $96 million contract extension with the Bills in 2022. However, Bills general manager Brandon Beane suggested that moving forward with Diggs’ contract would effectively put a financial “burden” on the team for the next few years.
The team would have had to incur about $31 million in dead money against the salary cap for the 2024 season, but Beane said the organization is willing to live with that in the short term.
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Buffalo Bills Stefon Diggs (Timothy T. Ludwig/Getty Images/File)
“I mean, listen, I think there’s a lot of things that we take into consideration,” Beane said. “With a player like him, you take a lot of things into consideration. But ultimately, we [salary] It’s the Caps. … I don’t have to give you all the reasons why we decided to do it. From the Caps’ perspective, we just decided to go ahead and eat it up now. We think by eating it up now, we can compete and do what we need to do. Because if we don’t, if we try to figure out how to split it up in too many different ways, it’s like an albatross hanging around our necks all year. … What’s ’25 going to be like? What’s ’26 going to be like?
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The Bills traded Diggs to the Houston Texans in April in exchange for future draft picks.
Buffalo Bills general manager Brandon Beane (Stacey Revere/Getty Images/File)
Aside from the financial implications, Diggs has appeared unhappy in Buffalo recently.
Even without Diggs on the roster, Beane believes the Bills will be contenders to win the championship.
“I’m very competitive,” Beane continued, “and from the moment the new year starts, I’m going to give it my all. With the cap, it feels like you have to play with one arm tied behind your back. … We have Josh Allen, and we want to compete for a championship every year.”
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Wide receiver Gabe Davis also left the Bills this offseason, signing with the Jacksonville Jaguars at age 25. But Beane and the front office added veteran pass-catchers Curtis Samuel and Marquez Valdes-Scantling.
Buffalo drafted former Florida State wide receiver Keion Coleman in the second round in April.
“Our receiver room right now is like a Baskin Robbins,” Beane joked. “There’s a lot of different flavors.”
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