Kelly: Does Diggs' Departure Mean Buffalo's Dominance of AFC East Is Over?

Trading Stefon Diggs to Houston was the latest in a series of moves that likely will weaken the Buffalo Bills and open up the AFC East division

Jan 7, 2024; Miami Gardens, Florida, USA; Buffalo Bills wide receiver Stefon Diggs (14) runs with / Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports

Ding dong, the AFC East powerhouse is dead.

Well, maybe the Buffalo Bills still have a pulse, seemingly on life support considering we don’t know what’s next for that franchise.

At the very least, Buffalo’s run as the four-time division champions should be coming to a close based on the roster purge that franchise has undergone this offseason.

The move that should substantially close the gap between the Miami Dolphins and the Bills was Wednesday's trade that sent four-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Stefon Diggs, and a 2024 sixth-round pick and a 2025 fifth-round pick to the Houston Texans for a 2025 second-round pick.

HOW MUCH DOES DIGGS' DEPARTURE WEAKEN BILLS?

Considering Diggs wasn’t shy about letting the world know he was unhappy in Buffalo, for whatever reason, the fact that the diva receiver was moved this offseason wasn’t completely shocking. 

But this trade seems more like a salary, and possibly a personality, dump than it was a franchise strategically positioning itself to improve for the upcoming season.

The Diggs trade was another cascading domino of a team acknowledging that its championship window was closing, and beginning the process of retooling its roster to make a resurgent push a season or two from now.

As good as quarterback Josh Allen is, and he’s clearly one of the top 10 players in the NFL, and a Dolphins assassin, the Bills have now had a mad exodus of starting talent.

Not only has Buffalo lost Diggs, and fellow starting receiver Gabe Davis this offseason, the Bills also released center Mitch Morse, cornerback Tre’Davious White and safety Jordan Poyer, who signed with the Dolphins. Linebackers Leonard Floyd and Tyrel Dodson have also taken their talents elsewhere, moving on from Buffalo via free agency.

COST OF DOING BUSINESS

When teams take an all-in approach to win a Lombardi Trophy, which is what Buffalo did when it acquired Diggs four seasons ago and then signed Von Miller to a lucrative, but irresponsible six-year, $120 million deal in 2022, eventually the bill comes due.

The unloading of Diggs and his $19 million salary is basically Buffalo’s attempt at paying down exorbitant credit card debt, and possibly give Allen a fresh start with emotionally stable receivers like Curtis Samuel and Mack Hollins, who both were added in free agency this offseason.

But the bottom line is a receiver unit that features Samuel, Hollins, Khalil Shakir, Andy Isabella and Tyrell Shavers isn’t keeping Kader Kohou up at night like the thought of facing Diggs would.

So unless there’s a second act to this latest NFL soap opera, and the Bills have another game-changing receiver in their scope, it's safe to conclude that Buffalo is coming back to the pack a little and that a Dolphins team that continues to retool its roster has closed some ground on the division’s biggest bully.

While the Dolphins have some voids to fill of their own because of the free agent exodus of 2024, which led to the departures of Christian Wilkins, Robert Hunt, Andrew Van Ginkel, Brandon Jones and DeShon Elliott, none of those players had the impact that Diggs had on the Bills during their tenure.

And now that Diggs is gone, Miami’s chances of dethroning Buffalo are better because Allen needs to find a new favorite target.