A Win-Win Trade? SI writer says Bills and Texans pulled it off

The Buffalo Bills and Houston Texans both posted a 'win' this offseason by agreeing to terms on a trade involving WR1 Stefon Diggs.

Buffalo Bills wide receiver Stefon Diggs (14) can t make the catch on this deep throw by Josh Allen. / Jamie Germano/Rochester Democrat and

Trades, by nature, are meant to be mutually beneficial transactions. In other words, both teams are supposed to "win" the trade.

One can argue that such is the case when examining the deal that sent wide receiver Stefon Diggs from the Buffalo Bills to the Houston Texans earlier this offseason.

Sports Illustrated writer Gilberto Manzano identified "winners" and "losers" from the NFL offseason with the Bills and Texans leading off the winners' list. Manzano named "Teams involved in Diggs trade" as his first of nine offseason winners.

From SI's NFL Offseason Winners and Losers:

"Don’t be surprised if the Buffalo Bills and Houston Texans face each other in the AFC championship game. Obviously, that would mean getting by the Kansas City Chiefs. But that daunting task might have gotten easier for the Bills and Texans after Diggs left Josh Allen to become Stroud’s new weapon.

It was time for a change for the Bills and Diggs. Salary cap issues and the frustrations from coming up short the past four seasons didn’t allow the Bills to continue trotting out the same core group. With Diggs gone, the Bills were forced to get creative with how they built their roster this offseason and that creativity should continue on the field on Sundays. Perhaps a new approach could be the key to helping Buffalo get over the hump. ..."

Diggs noticeably faded down the stretch in 2023. Over the course of two playoff games, he gained 73 yards receiving on 17 total targets and was held out of the end zone.

As a result of sending Diggs packing, the Bills must absorb approximately $31 million in "dead" salary cap space on their 2024 roster. In 2025, however, Diggs, who was signed to a long-term contract, will be completely off Buffalo's books.

"A player of his caliber, you weigh a lot of things on the situation," said Beane in a recent exclusive interview on The Athletic's Football Show podcast. "Ultimately, we just talked about the [salary] cap, you make moves, I don’t need to go through all the reasons why we decided to go ahead and do that. I would say from a cap standpoint, we decided just to go ahead and eat it now, and we think we can compete and do what we need to do by eating it now."