By Adam Kerr
On Wednesday, the Houston Texans traded a 2025 second-round pick to the Buffalo Bills for four-time Pro Bowl WR Stefon Diggs, a 2024 sixth-round pick. and a 2025 fifth-rounder.
After a surprise season from Houston, the young team is building around second-year QB CJ Stroud as he is still on his rookie contract. In doing this, they have had a great offseason, adding some big names on both sides of the ball
- WR Stefon Diggs
- RB Joe Mixon
- DE Danielle Hunter
Between the addition of these stars and more solid pieces added in 2024, the Texans have turned themselves from the second overall pick to possible playoff contenders in just a few years. For just a second-rounder, it would be interesting to see how many other teams contacted the Bills for the superstar wideout.
The Houston Wide Receiver room now consists of three great options: Diggs, Tank Dell, and Nico Collins. Add in Joe Mixon, Dalton Schultz, Dameon Pierce, and more, and CJ Stroud will be having a field day with opposing defenses. With Diggs and Mixon both under contract long-term, it will be easier to retain this group together while Stroud isn’t making big money.
Now, Houston is looking to dominate the AFC South. Their competition is a Jaguars team that might not have the QB they thought they had with Trevor Lawrence, a competent Colts team but with Anthony Richardson who is essentially heading into his second rookie year, and a team in Tennessee that looks to be in football purgatory for the coming years.
Should they win the division, they can pose a threat against the AFC’s titans like the Chiefs and Ravens. Even if they don’t make a run this year, they will come back with a more mature and even better young core in 2025.
On the other side of the deal is Bills Mafia. Not only did Buffalo get a future second-round pick for the All-Pro WR, but they are also taking a $38M cap hit by dealing him while on his lucrative extension. This leaves Bills fans just as upset with the organization as Diggs himself was before he was traded.
Their top Wide Receivers are now Curtis Samuel and Khalil Shakir, not necessarily the group one would want Josh Allen to trust with the game on the line. There are still quality WRs available like Tyler Boyd, Tee Higgins (via trade), and Michael Thomas. If they choose to pick up one of the available options, the deal doesn’t seem as bad because they also get out of Diggs’ contract.
The Bills front office surely knows what they are doing, because the window of success in the AFC – specifically the AFC East – is about as small as it could be. They have to play both Aaron Rodgers’ Jets and the elite Miami Dolphins twice a year, and none of those games were sure wins even with Diggs on the roster. However, they could have their eyes on somebody in the draft and hope to build a cheaper group of weapons around Allen and the defense for the future.