10-02-2024, 12:18 PM
(This post was last modified: 10-02-2024, 12:19 PM by purplefaithful.)
Inside the Stefon Diggs-Buffalo Bills divorce
After Minnesota drafted Diggs out of Maryland in 2015 -- one of the notable fifth-round steals in modern NFL history -- the team learned his competitive side could lead to frustration. The Vikings went to the playoffs three times during Diggs' five years with the team, all under head coach (and noted Diggs fan) Mike Zimmer, and never finished with a losing record. But the very thing that made Diggs great -- his belief that getting him the ball would help the team -- was something Minnesota had to manage on game day and throughout the week.
"He needs to have someone he can talk to, listening to his concerns, work through what was bothering him, recognizing him as a voice," a Vikings source who directly observed Diggs' tenure there said.
Multiple Vikings sources said that although the franchise considered Diggs' desire to maximize his offensive impact to be mostly a positive, the team had to work to ensure it didn't turn toxic within the building. Vikings brass spent significant time talking through issues with Diggs, realizing he just needed to vent sometimes.
Diggs was known to be forceful when he did. And he shared the wide receivers room with another alpha, Adam Thielen, who also wanted the ball.
To give then-quarterback Kirk Cousins peace on the sideline during games, coaches once situated the Vikings receivers apart from the quarterbacks and closer to the defensive benches, an ex-Vikings source said.
"It can be a lot," the source said. "He might throw his helmet. He will wear on your quarterback. But find me a premier receiver that's not a diva. ... And he works incredibly hard. That's why coaches love him."
After five years that included a pair of 1,000-yard seasons and the Diggs-authored "Minneapolis Miracle" but also $200,000 in fines for unexcused absences from practices and meetings, the team and Diggs decided to part ways in what a Vikings-era source described as a mutual decision between player and team. (A separate team source made it clear that Diggs wanted out.) Minnesota dealt Diggs as part of a package that sent Buffalo's first-round 2020 choice to the Vikings, a pick the team used to draft Justin Jefferson at 22nd overall.
That source did not recall Buffalo asking for advice on how to manage Diggs' personality in the trade process.
"You always have to worry about how he feels," a Bills team source said. "That wears on a locker room."
In 2023, four seasons since the trade from Minnesota to the Bills, the daily realities of Diggs weren't confined to the football side of the building in Buffalo. The Bills dealt with a minor public relations crisis in September 2023 when a team employee who works as a reporter for the Bills' website was heard on a livestream saying, "There's no control over Stefon Diggs. Dude's gonna do what he wants to do. He'll look in my face and say f--- you. ... That's how he treats everybody."
The employee later apologized, and Diggs reacted to the controversy by tweeting: "The media or fans may confuse my competitiveness that they witness on the field as who I am as a person. But off the field I'd never treat anyone how she described & have never said anything remotely close to that to her."
The controversy abated, and the season continued. More than a year later, the team employee remains a reporter for the Bills' website. The organization would come to a different decision about Diggs.
Rest of Story:
https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/4154...josh-allen
After Minnesota drafted Diggs out of Maryland in 2015 -- one of the notable fifth-round steals in modern NFL history -- the team learned his competitive side could lead to frustration. The Vikings went to the playoffs three times during Diggs' five years with the team, all under head coach (and noted Diggs fan) Mike Zimmer, and never finished with a losing record. But the very thing that made Diggs great -- his belief that getting him the ball would help the team -- was something Minnesota had to manage on game day and throughout the week.
"He needs to have someone he can talk to, listening to his concerns, work through what was bothering him, recognizing him as a voice," a Vikings source who directly observed Diggs' tenure there said.
Multiple Vikings sources said that although the franchise considered Diggs' desire to maximize his offensive impact to be mostly a positive, the team had to work to ensure it didn't turn toxic within the building. Vikings brass spent significant time talking through issues with Diggs, realizing he just needed to vent sometimes.
Diggs was known to be forceful when he did. And he shared the wide receivers room with another alpha, Adam Thielen, who also wanted the ball.
To give then-quarterback Kirk Cousins peace on the sideline during games, coaches once situated the Vikings receivers apart from the quarterbacks and closer to the defensive benches, an ex-Vikings source said.
"It can be a lot," the source said. "He might throw his helmet. He will wear on your quarterback. But find me a premier receiver that's not a diva. ... And he works incredibly hard. That's why coaches love him."
After five years that included a pair of 1,000-yard seasons and the Diggs-authored "Minneapolis Miracle" but also $200,000 in fines for unexcused absences from practices and meetings, the team and Diggs decided to part ways in what a Vikings-era source described as a mutual decision between player and team. (A separate team source made it clear that Diggs wanted out.) Minnesota dealt Diggs as part of a package that sent Buffalo's first-round 2020 choice to the Vikings, a pick the team used to draft Justin Jefferson at 22nd overall.
That source did not recall Buffalo asking for advice on how to manage Diggs' personality in the trade process.
"You always have to worry about how he feels," a Bills team source said. "That wears on a locker room."
In 2023, four seasons since the trade from Minnesota to the Bills, the daily realities of Diggs weren't confined to the football side of the building in Buffalo. The Bills dealt with a minor public relations crisis in September 2023 when a team employee who works as a reporter for the Bills' website was heard on a livestream saying, "There's no control over Stefon Diggs. Dude's gonna do what he wants to do. He'll look in my face and say f--- you. ... That's how he treats everybody."
The employee later apologized, and Diggs reacted to the controversy by tweeting: "The media or fans may confuse my competitiveness that they witness on the field as who I am as a person. But off the field I'd never treat anyone how she described & have never said anything remotely close to that to her."
The controversy abated, and the season continued. More than a year later, the team employee remains a reporter for the Bills' website. The organization would come to a different decision about Diggs.
Rest of Story:
https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/4154...josh-allen
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