It has been an eventful first two-plus months in the relationship between the Patriots and new star wide receiver Stefon Diggs. The Patriots explored other options when it came to adding a true top-tier receiver, before finally settling on Diggs and a three-year, $63 million contract, but the team was very much eager to get a veteran who could be a potential game-breaker at the position.
Diggs can do that. This is a guy who had six straight 1,100-yard seasons and was likely on his way to another before he suffered the ACL injury in 2024. Given the lack of depth on the free-agent market and the need for experience at the position in the team’s wide-receiver room, though, it’s unlikely they could have done much better.
First up for Diggs was to get past the small controversy concerning the viral video of him holding a baggie with an unknown substance in it on a boat. That’s been put to rest, for now.
Next is getting healthy. The hope is that he will be ready to start the 2025 season in Week 1. But there is no certainty on that. And this week, with New England’s minicamp all wrapped up and training camp more than a month away, Diggs sent a reminder on just how much work remains ahead of him.
“Trying find a balance between family and work but it seems like work is taking precedence over everything else..” Diggs posted on Instagram.
At age 31, there is some skepticism about whether Diggs can recapture the form that saw him earn four straight Pro Bowl selections. But he has been mostly healthy in his career, until this injury.
“We’ll see how it goes,” Diggs said last week. “I’m grinding each and every day. I can’t do too much of the team stuff, but I’m eager to get out there so when they do press the button, I’m going to be ready.
“I’m confident. I took my rehab pretty serious. In the beginning phases I wasn’t as confident. But when I got here I’m in the mindset to get after it. I’m like a dog on a leash because I want to go. I’m looking forward to training camp.”
Even if Diggs is not the 1,100-yard, 100-plus-catch star he once was, he still figures to be a big upgrade for New England, whose top wide receiver last year was slot man DeMario Douglas, at 66 catches and 621 yards.
Patriots’ Drake Maye Glad to Have Him
According to quarterback Drake Maye, Diggs’ presence not only adds a talent upgrade, it gives New England a strong veteran voice in the receivers’ room.
“He seems like an awesome teammate,” Maye said. “He’s my next door, to my locker—lockermates, he is one down, beside me. We talk all the time. He is a veteran in this league, he has made a lot of plays. He has played in a lot of big-time games. So just an awesome voice for the receiver room, for this offense.
“He has had some big games and I think once he kind of recovers and is able to get back out there, I am looking forward to, you know, being able to throw him some footballs and just, it’s always good to have a guy like that on your team.”
