Stefon Diggs 'Can Still Play!' Bills GM Brandon Beane Addresses 'Questions' About WR
Stefon Diggs has proven to be quite a catch during his Buffalo Bills tenure. As a result, team management is firmly in his corner in the midst of one of his darkest hours.
Diggs is in the headlines for all the wrong reasons in the aftermath of the AFC Divisional playoffs: his drop of a Josh Allen deep ball in the latter stages of a 27-24 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs has become the enduring image of the franchise's latest postseason heartbreak. General manager Brandon Beane reiterated his support for Diggs on Tuesday as the Bills picked up the pieces from another all-in season that yielded no hardware.
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"Stef's, he's a No. 1 receiver. I firmly believe that, not wavering off of that," Beane said, per Alaina Getzenberg of ESPN. "We have to continue to put weapons out there to keep teams from bracketing him or, you know, locking him down in different ways to take him away. They know you are going to want him."
"Stef can still play, I'm sure he would love to have that deep ball again, he'd be the first to tell you. He's super competitive, he's going to work his tail off this offseason. I know there's various reasons or questions on this or his production, all that, but I still see Stef as a No. 1 receiver."
Beane's support comes at a time when Diggs' contract has a potential out that could save the Bills over $19 million in cap space (post-June 1) amidst a rollercoaster season that saw him post 1,183 yards. That'd be warmly welcomed in most NFL locales but served as a career-low in Western New York for Diggs, who has been one of the faces of this new era of Buffalo prosperity that has won everything but an AFC title.
Diggs got off to a scorching start in his fourth year in Buffalo, picking up 620 yards and five scores in the first six showings. He'd visit the end zone only three times over the final 11 games and the year culminated in earning only 21 yards on a trio of receptions in the loss to the Chiefs. Diggs has not spoken publicly since Sunday's loss, only adding to the uncertainty of his Western New York future.
If the Bills are truly serious about running their recurring core back yet another year, or least a good bit of it, they may have no choice but to hold onto Diggs: second-leading receiver Gabe Davis intends to dip his toe in the free agency waters, leaving tight end Dalton Kincaid and second-year breakout Khalil Shakir as the potential top returning catchers.
