Sports

Bills trade star WR Diggs to Texans for draft pick

The Buffalo Bills are finalizing a trade to send four-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Stefon Diggs to the Houston Texans for draft-pick compensation, sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Wednesday.

The Bills will receive a 2025 second-round pick (via the Minnesota Vikings) in exchange for Diggs, a 2024 sixth-round pick and a 2025 fifth-round pick. The Texans acquired that pick from the Vikings when they traded their 2024 first-round pick to the Texans last month.

The trade comes a day after Diggs responded to a social media user’s declaration that he wasn’t essential to Bills quarterback Josh Allen‘s success by replying, “You sure?”

It’s the latest win-now move for the Texans, who are surrounding quarterback C.J. Stroud with veteran talent this offseason.

The Texans traded for running back Joe Mixon last month, acquiring him from the Cincinnati Bengals and then signing him to a three-year, $27 million extension. They also made a splash on the defensive side, signing star pass-rusher Danielle Hunter to a two-year, $49 million contract, including $48 million guaranteed, in free agency.

Diggs joins a loaded Texans offense that is headlined by Stroud, the NFL’s reigning Offensive Rookie of the Year, and includes Mixon, receivers Nico Collins and Tank Dell and tight end Dalton Schultz.

In the 2023 season, Dell was on pace for 1,205 receiving yards before suffering a season-ending injury in the first quarter against the Denver Broncos in Week 13. Dell and Stroud finished with the eighth-most passing yards for a first-year quarterback and wide receiver duo (709). Collins ranked eighth in receiving yards (1,297) and had eight touchdowns.

Last month, the Texans tried to trade for Keenan Allen and offered a Day 2 pick from the 2025 draft. The Los Angeles Chargers instead sent Allen to the Chicago Bears, but it was a sign the Texans were eager to improve their receiver core to help Stroud in his second season.

The Bills, meanwhile, have moved on from several veterans this offseason. Buffalo released cornerstone defensive players Tre’Davious White and Jordan Poyer and starting center Mitch Morse in salary cap moves. In addition, receiver Gabriel Davis signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars and outside linebacker Leonard Floyd signed with the San Francisco 49ers in free agency.

Last season, Diggs had repeatedly publicly expressed his desire to stay with the Bills. The three-time captain signed a four-year, $104 million contract extension in April 2022.

The Bills will carry a dead money charge of $31.096 million next season after trading Diggs, according to Roster Management System.

ESPN’s DJ Bien-Aime and Alaina Getzenberg contributed to this report.

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