The Minnesota Vikings are one of the best stories in the NFL through four weeks of the 2024 season. Minnesota is one of the last undefeated teams at 4-0 and they sit atop the NFC North. The Vikings are led by WR Justin Jefferson on offense, a player they acquired through a 2020 trade involving current Texans WR Stefon Diggs.
Stefon Diggs is not an easy player to have on your roster, according to several anonymous sources who spoke to ESPN's Jeremy Fowler. Fowler published an article on Wednesday that chronicles Diggs' divorce from the Buffalo and looks back at this time in Minnesota to shed light his entire career.
Diggs always believes that getting him teh ball can help his team win. That is part of what makes him a great wide receiver. However, it seems that Minnesota spent a lot of time and effort to manage Diggs both on gameday and during the week.
“He needs to have someone he can talk to, listening to his concerns, work through what was bothering him, recognizing him as a voice,” a Vikings source who directly observed Diggs' tenure there said.
The Vikings came up with one solution to give QB Kirk Cousins some peace on the sideline during games. Vikings coaches once placed the wide receivers apart from the QBs and closer to the defensive backs on the benches, according to one ex-Viking source.
“It can be a lot,” once source said about Diggs. “He might throw his helmet. He will wear on your quarterback. But find me a premier receiver that's not a diva. … And he works incredibly hard. That's why coaches love him.”
Reexamining the Vikings trading Stefon Diggs to the Bills in 2020
The Minnesota Vikings finally had enough of Stefon Diggs after the 2019-20 NFL season. Minnesota traded Diggs to Buffalo the following offseason.
The complete trade terms are as follows.
Bills received:
- WR Stefon Diggs
- 2020 seventh-round pick
Vikings received:
- 2020 first-round pick (which became WR Justin Jefferson)
- 2020 fifth-round pick
- 2020 sixth-round pick
- 2021 fourth-round pick
This trade obviously turned out incredibly well for Minnesota. The Vikings upgraded from Diggs with Justin Jefferson, and got him on a rookie contract. They also received multiple late-round draft picks as a kicker, making it an obvious win for Minnesota.
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However, it wasn't a completely terrible trade for the Bills. Diggs spent four seasons in Buffalo and put up over 1,100 receiving yards and eight touchdowns in each of his four seasons. He quickly became one of Josh Allen's favorite weapons and helped propel the Bills into the top tier of AFC teams.
However, it wasn't always easy in Buffalo either. That's just the Stefon Diggs experience.
Graziano highlighted that his source did not recall the Bills asking the Vikings for advice on how to handle Diggs. However, one Bills source confirmed that it wasn't always easy having Diggs in the locker room.
“You always have to worry about how he feels,” a Bills team source said. “That wears on a locker room.”
The Bills traded Diggs to the Texans earlier this spring. Houston is 3-1 and in control of the AFC South, so the trade looks like a success so far.
