'Best Interest': Buffalo Bills GM Brandon Beane Breaks Down Stefon Diggs Trade

The Buffalo Bills made the difficult decision to trade away star receiver Stefon Diggs on Wednesday.

Dec 23, 2023; Inglewood, California, USA; Buffalo Bills wide receiver Stefon Diggs (14). / Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

An era has officially come to an end in Western New York.

On Wednesday, the Buffalo Bills shocked the NFL world by trading star receiver Stefon Diggs (and a pair of late-round picks) to the Houston Texans for just a second-round pick in return. Diggs came with more than his share of off-field drama, but he was the Bills' top receiver since his arrival in 2020, even if he slowed down in the latter half of last season.

Even if there had been rumors of his departure, seeing him shipped off in such an unceremonious fashion still came as a surprise.

For Bills general manager Brandon Beane, trading Diggs was a decision he thoguht long and hard about, but he ultimately decided it was the correct one for his team.

Jan 21, 2024; Orchard Park, New York, USA; Buffalo Bills wide receiver Stefon Diggs (14). / Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

"Anytime you make a move like this, as I said, very difficult, you're trying to win," Beane said, per the Bills' site. "And sometimes people may not see that. This is by no means the Bills giving up or trying to take a step back or anything like that. Everything we do, we're trying to win.

"It was made in what we believe was the best interest of the Bills. We can go round and round — I don't think I could frame it any better."

Beane added that while he hasn't talked with Josh Allen since the trade was finalized, he informed the star quarterback that a trade "wasn't 100 percent off the table" beforehand.

Arguably just as important as the on-field impact is the effect the trade will have on the Bills' salary cap. Diggs was set to enter the first year of a massive four-year extension he signed in 2022, so the Bills are taking on a massive dead cap hit of over $31 million (a net loss of around $3.2 million) this season. Down the road, though, shedding Diggs' contract will give the team far more cap flexibility.

"We were roughly, before this move, seven and a half million or something like that on the cap. This is going to take off three (point) three (million), there'll be a little offset which will get maybe closer to four by the time you add a player back on whenever that is," Beane said. "So it pulls us down into the threes of cap space. And so, we don't have a lot of room… we'll still have to save money for the draft picks, replacement costs, practice squad, guys like that. But, we'll be creative. We're still going to look. The cap flexibility is more next year which can help you even the following year depending on what you do, or you don't do in 2025."