You knew it was going to just be a matter of time when Stefon Diggs would resurface in the AFC East. The old Patriots way is rebuilding mode as New England started things off by hiring a former player Mike Vrabel. He will lead the Empire back to the post-season to reclaim the galaxy. Vrabel played with the old regime and helped win some Superbowls with Bill Belichick and Tom Brady. After his playing, he went into coaching as he took on the head coaching job at Tennessee as their head coach. This off-season the Patriots have been restocking their shelves with some high priced talent. The Patriots just added Drake Maye, a number one wide receiver, as they give the 31 year old Diggs a three year deal worth 69 million which 26 of that is guaranteed. For Diggs it was show me the money and a chance to get revenge against one of his former teams he played for, the Bills. Now he will face them twice a year working for the new Empire.

Stefon Diggs was originally drafted by the Minnesota Vikings back in the 2015 NFL draft in the 5th round out of Maryland University. Diggs has ten seasons under his belt in the NFL as the Patriots will be the 4th team of his career. Diggs is a 4x Pro-Bowler and was named All-Pro once in his professional career. Diggs is a number one receiver for most teams in the NFL. He has played in 144 NFL games and has caught 857 passes for 10,491 receiving yards and hauled in 70 touchdown receptions. Why has he been traded already twice in his career? Diggs demands the ball, he is a attention seeker, and could easily become unhappy. He eventually wears out his welcome. The Vikings gladly traded Diggs to Buffalo back in 2020 for draft picks which included a number pick Minnesota used to cash in on Justin Jefferson, one of the league’s top talents. In Buffalo he helped in the development of one of the best Quarterbacks in the league, Josh Allen. The Bills could not get over the Chiefs hurdle and Diggs wore out his welcome with tantrums on the sideline. Tantrums in the locker room and those cryptic tweets on social media. The Bills traded him to Houston before the 2024 season kicked off. Diggs would only play in 8 games for the Texans before getting derailed by a season ending injury. He tore an ACL in his knee in week 8 versus the Colts. In 8 games Diggs caught 47 balls for 596 yards and three touchdown passes from second year man CJ Stroud. Part of the trade agreement was Diggs reworked his contract so he can become a free agent and now will be set to be another top drafted quarterback’s security blanket.

The New England Patriots have been mostly a disaster after Tom Brady left town. Bill Belichick was able to get the Patriots into the post-season once without Brady. The Evil Empire crumbled as Belichick was fired & they went with one of his guys to take over as head coach last year. Jerod Mayo took the job as head coach only to last one season as the Patriots took last place in the AFC East with a 4-13 record. The Patriots turned to Mike Vrabel as the head coach and stocked him up this off-season with some solid defensive players. Patriots added Harold Landry III, a former Titan linebacker, who played for Vrabel. The Patriots signed Robert Spillane, a linebacker and the Raiders lead tackler last season. They added former Eagle defensive tackle Milton Williams. They signed former Lion corner back Carlton Davis. On the offense they signed Morgan Moses, the former Jets offensive lineman. Then they added back up QB Joshua Dobbs to the mix. They did grab another wide receiver before Diggs, another X-Bill who had a nice season with Josh Allen last year in Mack Hollins who was a great red zone option for Buffalo. Josh McDaniels returns to New England as the offensive coordinator who has ties with Hollins from his Raiders days where he flopped as head coach. The Patriots have tried to sign other big name receivers but had no luck. With Diggs they may have overpaid because of his torn ACL.

Everyone thought, including me, that Stefon Diggs was going to sign with the Dallas Cowboys to play with his brother. Diggs’ brother Trevon plays on the other side of the ball as he is a corner back on the Cowboys defense. The Cowboys have been looking for another guy to line up on the other side of the field to CeeDee Lamb. Lamb is one of the top receivers in the NFL. Either Stefon did not want to play on a team where he is the number two or the Cowboys were expecting a family discount for his services. Stefon has a great work ethic and will probably be ready to go week 1 where most would return sometime after the year of the injury. Diggs, who took all his Bills stuff off social media, put all of it back not too long ago. Rumors had it Diggs wanted to return to the Bills. I could not see the Bills having a family reunion with the cray-cray that Diggs brings to the table. It did not seem like the Texans were knocking at his door for a return there.

The Patriots plan is the same thing the Bills did for Josh Allen. Stefon Diggs will be the number one guy for 2nd year man Drake Maye. The Patriots wide receiver room compiled up 1,723 receiving yards last year which was the fewest in the NFL. Adding Diggs and Mack Hollins with the guys the Patriots had last year like Kendrick Bourne, DeMario Douglas, Kayshon Boutte, and Ja’Lynn Baker can’t be a bad thing. Drake’s guys from last year he knows well and should get better with them in his second season. The guys from last year will get more single coverage as Diggs will get double teamed most of the games. Hollins will do his thing that he did for the Bills. Catch TD passes and convert some first downs. On paper this is a nice plan for New England. Will the Patriots be a playoff team next year? Losing is not a good thing for Diggs. Neither is not getting him the ball. Will Diggs be the same guy he was before the knee injury? This is a gamble for the Patriots who did overpay for his services. They need to. If Diggs works out and the Patriots do well, more players will follow and play for New England who are rebuilding the Death Star. You know Diggs will be eye balling the two games he plays against the Bills. His return to Buffalo will be major headlines. You know he wants the money & he wants the ball but taking down the Mafia would be his Superbowl. Last year the Texans did play the Bills and Houston won it. The Mafia could also get the last chuckle out of this when he becomes the selfish player and wears out the Patriots locker room. If he hurts Maye’s development, it will be a gut punch heard around the world. Diggs is a NFL hit man who plays on your team with double edged sword. When he brings that out, it’s too late. You want know why and how this happened. It always comes back to thinking how signing Stefon Diggs sounded like a great idea at the time. Then you are left treading water with egg on your face. Good luck Digging your way out of this Patriots fans.