Patriots Player Departure Stefon Diggs Cut.

[TheRainMaker]

???

If the patriots were willing to restructure and push money down the road, they could just have sent his agent a memo. No approproval is required.

Diggs may have had a clause that allows him to reject it.

Were they really? Or did they look at the off field antics and decide to move on, while letting folks think they tried and failed to agree?

Diggs has no problem speaking his mind, so we’ll see.

 

[Ring 6]

Maye needs a quick hitter WR who catches everything. Beating the pass rush.

Just the opposite of what you propose.

Yeah, let’s turn the best down field passer in the nfl into a dunk and dunk chad Pennington. Genius.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

Players can reject it.

Some teams, although IIRC the Patriots are not one, put clauses in their contracts allowing them to unilaterally convert salary into signing bonuses. But taking a pay cut obviously is different.

 

[TheRainMaker]

Some teams, although IIRC the Patriots are not one, put clauses in their contracts allowing them to unilaterally convert salary into signing bonuses. But taking a pay cut obviously is different.

We’ll find out more information soon.

 

[Sect140]

Yeah, let’s turn the best down field passer in the nfl into a dunk and dunk chad Pennington. Genius.

I don’t think he’s saying turn Drake into a dink and dunk passer, it wouldn’t hurt the offense if there was a really good slot receiver that could get open quickly and Drake could trust when the pass rush is getting to him. Drake is a great long ball passer however he needs to improve his short passing game which will make him a better all around passer and make the offense a more complete offense.

 

[TheRainMaker]

I don’t think he’s saying turn Drake into a dink and dunk passer, it wouldn’t hurt the offense if there was a really good slot receiver that could get open quickly and Drake could trust when the pass rush is getting to him. Drake is a great long ball passer however he needs to improve his short passing game which will make him a better all around passer and make the offense a more complete offense.

Yup. Whether it’s the slot or outside, Drake needs a reliable man beating receiver which was something that the team lacked last season.

 

[Toofy]

Will absence of diggs make us lose 4 or 5 close games. If the answer is yes, it's a loss . If we can limit that to 2 losses with a cheaper and younger agent while allowing younger wide receivers to develop, That's a win.

We got our young linemen game time last season. Now get more reps for you get wide receivers and allow them to blossom.

Bolster defense so that we are always in close games. We just need to get one large deep pass or a turnover to flip the switch in regular season. That should help us. Hopefully in post season the experience helps and our wide receiver corps are more sharpened .

 

[Ring 6]

I don’t think he’s saying turn Drake into a dink and dunk passer, it wouldn’t hurt the offense if there was a really good slot receiver that could get open quickly and Drake could trust when the pass rush is getting to him. Drake is a great long ball passer however he needs to improve his short passing game which will make him a better all around passer and make the offense a more complete offense.

He led the league in completion percentage and passer rating. His short pass in game is fine. He needs better blocking.

 

[stcjones]

Thanks to Stefon Diggs for being a great teammate and bringing as much as he could to the field every day. I think this was the right move for the Pats right now ….especially once he disappeared in the playoffs. Wish him the best of luck and I’m sure he will catch on quickly with another team where he can even be complimentary and not THE guy. We need several elite WR going forward

 

[Ring 6]

Will absence of diggs make us lose 4 or 5 close games. If the answer is yes, it's a loss . If we can limit that to 2 losses with a cheaper and younger agent while allowing younger wide receivers to develop, That's a win.

We got our young linemen game time last season. Now get more reps for you get wide receivers and allow them to blossom.

Bolster defense so that we are always in close games. We just need to get one large deep pass or a turnover to flip the switch in regular season. That should help us. Hopefully in post season the experience helps and our wide receiver corps are more sharpened .

Spending 20 mill on someone other than Diggs shouldn’t cost us any games.

 

[XLIX]

???

If the patriots were willing to restructure and push money down the road, they could just have sent his agent a memo. No approproval is required.

As a rule, you do need permission to restructure a contract.

BUT....

More and more these days, contracts are being written with clauses that allows the team to unilaterally restructure salary to signing bonus. Whether or not Diggs' contract had such a clause, I have no idea.

 

[Sect140]

He led the league in completion percentage and passer rating. His short pass in game is fine. He needs better blocking.

I’m sure Drake and the coaching staff would like him to improve his game each offseason instead of saying he’s fine no need to improve.

 

[Family]

Diggs may have had a clause that allows him to reject it.

Doesn't a restructure help the player because it is guaranteeing more money?

It doesn't make sense that a 33 year old WR would have a problem with more guaranteed money on a contract he signed last year.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

Doesn't a restructure help the player because it is guaranteeing more money?

It doesn't make sense that a 33 year old WR would have a problem with more guaranteed money on a contract he signed last year.

I imagine that the restructure also included either a pay cut or moving some of his salary to incentives.

 

[TheRainMaker]

Doesn't a restructure help the player because it is guaranteeing more money?

It doesn't make sense that a 33 year old WR would have a problem with more guaranteed money on a contract he signed last year.

He wanted more money today and feels he'll get that on the open market. We'll see.

 

[Huckleberry1]

Henry should be next, IMO.

The existing cap space they have should go to improving the trenches on offense and edge rush on defense while also retaining or replacing/upgrading Hawkins at safety. But we have such a long timeline with Maye and the $25M of cap space/$33M of cash payments that Diggs and Henry were/are set to count for is better allocated towards younger skill players, IMO. At WR you have Pierce but also guys like Wan'dale Robinson and Romeo Doubs. At TE you have Otton, Likely, Okonkwo.

Ultimately I just think that younger options are better for us with such a young QB.

Disagree. Henry is a very good receiving TE, with a reasonable contract and a great connection with Maye. Getting rid of him is creating a hole where one doesn't exist, with little to no likelihood of being able to fill it this season. Draft a TE and start developing them.

 

[TommyD4207]

This sucks.
I hope they have a plan. Replacing his production and leadership isn't going to be easy.

You ****ers better give him a standing ovation when he comes back in a different uniform.

 

[Ring 6]

I’m sure Drake and the coaching staff would like him to improve his game each offseason instead of saying he’s fine no need to improve.

Every player wants to improve. Thats different than saying they should change the way they play to a way that doesn’t suit him.

 

[KCSVEN]

I was firmly against signing Pierce when I thought we were keeping Diggs. Since Diggs was released, I have gone back and started watching some of his college tape and will watch his games with the Colts but I am leaning toward wanting them to pursue Alec.

He tracks the ball really well and uses his body well to block out defenders. Similar to Booty, but Pierce is faster and taller. I bring up Booty because the idea of him playing Z I think fit his skillset better.

I am looking forward to your write up @KCSVEN

I really like Pierce after watching tape.

-Release is pretty good, some good change of direction and good feet and hand use

-Had 1 drop on short pass where looked to run before catching ball, overall has good catch radius and catches balls well with hands. Smaller hands at 9 inches for such a big receiver but doesn’t look like effects him.

-Speed and quickness are evident. Many DB’s were clearly afraid of his deep speed and gave him extra space. Ran a 4.41 which is really good for his size, the long strides kind of help as your surprised how fast he is for his size. It's obvious on film on every play he's something different with the speed.

-Route running was pretty good, He worked a lot with Reggie Wayne to improve on intermediate routes and based on articles and coaching comments he improved from 2024. Uses his speed to setup up DB’s and does a good job of stopping route after selling going deep. In certain zone defenses it feels like he could do that every play and be open.

-Good vs man. McGuffey was the only guy that got the better of him. He did not lose every rep but definitely less open vs him than normal. Had several plays where he completely lost the CB. His advanced separation analytics are not great but I thought he had good separation overall.

-ADOT over 20 yards leading league 2 years in a row is impressive

-Not much YAC but not much opportunity, just wasn’t used in a way to have that. Looks like he has some potential. He’s not Chase or anything but think he can improve that in a different offense.

-His QBs sucked. Many chances at big plays were lost by the poor throws or decisions.

-Great reputation in the locker room and as a hard worker

-Will only be 26 for the entire 2026 season.

-Has made himself into a #1 type receiver by hard work and improvement. He is night and day better than 2022 and made a big leap in 2025.

-Some teams did give him extra respect with safeties over the top or the #1 corner on him.

-He's a legitimate outside receiver, will be the best they had here since Moss.


Here are the caveats with him:

-Never been the #1 guy. Colts spread it around.
-Before 2025 separation was an issue. Improved in 2025 but as he struggled against McDuffee will he struggle more as the #1 target? Can he improve on his improved separation in 2025?
-YAC not really part of his game, may never really be as might not be a product of the system, hard to tell.


My Conclusions
-Though there is risk here, I am all in on paying him what is needed and slotting him as the #1 WR going forward.
-He's 26 in May.

-WRs with >= 150 Routes, YPRR >= 2.20, Win Rate >= 10%, ASS (Average Separation Score) >= 0.05, Age <= 25

Puka Nacua, Jaxon Smith-Nijgba, Luther Burden, Alec Pierce, Ja'Marr Chase, George Pickens, Zay Flowers

-I just don't know where you get someone better. He's better than Diggs on tape. AJ Brown is older, has knee history and cost trade capital.

-He matches up perfectly with Drake Maye's strength. It's like they were made for each other.

-He gets into Josh's system and continues to improve with good coaching the sky is the limit. He's going to be good for sure and I think with Drake he will be great.

 

[mgteich]

I imagine that the restructure also included either a pay cut or moving some of his salary to incentives.

That is not a "restructure" That is a new contract where the player agree to take a pay cut. And, yes I could certainly see Diggs refusing to take a voluntary pay cut, especially after his performance was MORE than the team should have ever expected.