Mike Vrabel was probably hoping to make a splash in his first season here in New England, and the Patriots pulled off a deal on Tuesday night that certainly created one.
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the team agreed to a 3-year, $69 million deal for veteran receiver Stefon Diggs, which also reportedly includes $26 million in guaranteed money.
For New England, it’s certainly a risk. Diggs is coming off an ACL injury that sidelined him just eight weeks into last season, although the team clearly has no concerns there having had him reportedly take a physical during his visit to Foxboro last week.
From there, the next question is whether or not Diggs is OK with being a guy who is a significant part of the offense, but not necessarily the guy who takes the lion’s share of the targets.
Given his history, that’s going to be the key question when he takes the field here in Foxboro next season.
That’s not to say Drake Maye having someone like him to throw to isn’t going to be a significant upgrade. It absolutely will be the case. However, other targets like Hunter Henry, Demario Douglas, and whoever emerges from there between Kendrick Bourne, newcomer Mack Hollins, Kayshon Boutte, and last year’s draft selection, Ja’Lynn Polk, will have quite a few other guys also looking for opportunities.
Offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels has been down this road, having worked with Randy Moss during his time here. Spreading the ball around will definitely be a priority, although with Diggs now in the fold, the competition around him will certainly be interesting to follow.
For a team that Vrabel has already hinted at being run-centric, it may not necessarily leave a lot of opportunities for Diggs to get the amount of attention he’s used to. That became a problem in Buffalo, and it would be surprising if he didn’t start pushing Maye here the way he did Josh Allen.
For Buffalo, anyone who watched them in 2024 likely noticed Allen looked like a guy with a weight off his back. As a result, it felt like there was some addition by subtraction last season. While the Bills saw a drop off in overall offensive production (Allen finished last season below 4,000 yards passing for the first time since 2019), Buffalo’s overall win total and average points per game increased last season. They went from 11 wins to 13, while averaging 30.9 points-per-game, up from 26.5 in 2023.
But when healthy, Diggs can certainly change the game. He’s a player who prior to last season averaged over 1,000 per season for six consecutive seasons before getting hurt midseason in 2024. If he’s even close to where he was, he’s the type of player who absolutely changes things, forcing opponents to have to account for him. That potentially opens up the Patriots’ passing game considerably, especially for someone like Maye who has the arm to use every part of the field.
For now, New England came into this offseason hoping to get a little more explosive on offense. It’s safe to say that, despite the baggage Diggs might bring with him, they’ve now done just that.
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Ian Logue is a Seacoast native and owner and senior writer for PatsFans.com, an independent media site covering the New England Patriots and has been running this site in one form or another since 1997.
