Allen Must Have Signed Off on Diggs Trade

Thank you to everyone on Xwitter who hollered out asking about my thoughts on the Diggs trade. I can’t tell you how much I enjoy interacting with all of you (you know who you are) who read my blab.

Well, here it is. First off, I highly recommend you read Ed Kilgore’s take on the subject of the Diggs trade. He can write what employed journalists can’t because it’s coming straight from his vast experience working with professional athletes. Plus, he’s old like me and likes to be called “Gramps”.

OK, back to the Diggs trade:

-It was evident from behavior patterns that something started going south in Josh’s relationship with Stefon Diggs during and following the 2022 playoff game in Cincinnati . We saw mostly a PR shaped relationship over the course of last season (2023-4). Even though Josh still has some kid left in him, that playful part of their relationship was gone for the most part compared to previous years.

– Allen certainly at the very least gave some feedback to Brandon Beane and Sean McDermott BEFORE this trade went down. If the relationship between Allen and Diggs was solid, the trade would have never happened.

– Brandon Beane knows the “sell by” date better than anyone when it comes to trading veterans. But BBB is also not shy about taking a major dead cap hit one year to get out of cap jail the next (Marcell Dareus). It was likely common knowledge the Bills wanted to move on from Diggs and recoup whatever assets they could get for him.

-It’s not difficult to infer from Stefon’s trolling the fan base with cryptic social media posts that he was unhappy. But here’s the thing about Stefon that is more of a driver of his attention seeking behavior than anything else: If the shine starts to fade for a team, even just a little bit… Diggs will create his own narratives and play them out on social media for his own jollies. And that is what bugged me the most about Stefon. His behavior was Minnesota 2.0 in Buffalo. It will become Buffalo 2.0 at Houston once the light isn’t shining his way again. It’s now a well established behavior pattern.

Photo by © Gregory Fisher-USA TODAY Sports via Imagn.com, LLC.

-Josh will now be able to develop relationships with other players without baggage. Kilgore and others mentioned (including myself) that this move (Diggs trade) is addition by subtraction. No disrespect intended toward Stefon. He was a tremendous producer for the Buffalo Bills. No question. But the trade is a win-win for both sides because Buffalo got anything for a guy they probably knew they knew they needed to move on from.

-The relationship between Diggs and the Bills in general and Josh specifically was like a torrid love affair you know is never going to work out but you can’t stop yourself from falling head over heels. You’re madly in love until the bloom comes off the rose and the affair just doesn’t get you as excited anymore. The relationship sours and it’s wash, rinse, repeat. Time to move on for both parties involved.

-If the mojo wasn’t the same for Diggs and Allen, then moving on might unleash Allen in ways we have yet to see from his extraordinary talent. It could be Dalton Kincaid who unlocks that special zing Allen brings to the NFL.

-I realize many fans find the Diggs trade unacceptable for the compensation received, but as Greg Cosell pointed out on his last appearance on One Bills Live said… (paraphrased) “the market determines compensation.” It doesn’t matter what we THINK compensation should be for a Diggs trade.

-Getting old means there’s less energy available to fret over big moves made by the Buffalo Bills. All we can do is roll with the information we’re given and hope for the best. I honestly think this trade is a net positive for the Bills because I believe Josh is going to find “his mojo man” on the field and have a whopper of a year.

Editor’s babble: Thanks to all who graciously read my crap. If you got this far, you might as well go for the full meal deal on Xwitter and find me @RobynMundyWYO.