Stefon Diggs Trade: Houston Texans Land Wide Receiver From Buffalo Bills
Where there is smoke, there is fire. And there has been smoke about Stefon Diggs being unhappy in Buffalo for some time now.
Well, today we got the fire as Stefon Diggs was traded from the Buffalo Bills to the Houston Texans. C.J. Stroud will be a happy man while Josh Allen and the Bills Mafia will be looking to retool at wide receiver through the 2024 NFL Draft (and maybe in remaining free agency as they get out from the Diggs contract).
Let’s take a moment to dissect the Diggs trade and look at the fantasy football impact of the move. First, here are the details of the trade in terms of players and draft picks.
Stefon Diggs Trade Details & Draft Picks
HOUSTON TEXANS RECEIVE
- Stefon Diggs
- 2024 6th round pick
- 2025 5th round pick
BUFFALO BILLS RECEIVE
- 2025 2nd round pick
Diggs Trade: Fantasy Football Winners
C.J. Stroud - There is no question Stroud is a winner here. He already had formidable targets in Nico Collins, Tank Dell, and Dalton Schultz - now he gets an All-Pro caliber Stefon Diggs. The rich get richer.
Dalton Kincaid - With Stefon Diggs, Curtis Samuel, Mack Hollins, and Khalil Shakir, there were some questions about how often Kincaid could line up at wide receiver where he truly thrives for fantasy. Removing Stefon Diggs and his targets from that equation make things a whole lot easier. Even if they draft a rookie wide receiver, the odds of that pass-catcher immediately being a Stefon Diggs caliber player are low.
Curtis Samuel/Khalil Shakir - The addition of Curtis Samuel felt a little redundant with Shakir and Kincaid also profiling as slot guys. Now this frees up Curtis Samuel to play more flanker outside with Mack Hollins as the field stretcher on the other side. That should create more slot snaps for Khalil Shakir as well.
Joe Mixon - The knock on Joe Mixon has been his efficiency and his ability to create for himself. But the Texans scheme behind Pro Bowl tackle Laremy Tunsil and with fullback Andrew Beck create a lot of space before contact. With the way C.J. Stroud has started and now with all these high-end options, the Texans should have no trouble moving the ball which could mean a lot of touchdowns for Joe Mixon.
Diggs Trade: Fantasy Football Losers
Stefon Diggs - Stefon Diggs might be just fine here - C.J. Stroud is a good QB and we always say that “targets are earned”. But there's no doubt he has steeper competition for targets so they may just spread the ball around.
Josh Allen - Arguments will be made by Bills fans that they are removing a cancer, creating future cap space (not this year as the Bills are stuck with the $31M cap hit), moving to younger assets etc.. But, for fantasy football purposes, there’s really no way to spin this as a positive for Josh Allen.
Tank Dell - The big, bodied Nico Collins will likely remain the full-time split end on the outside. Stefon Diggs and Tank Dell will rotate in the slot and at flanker. But this team does use a fullback Andrew Beck which means, when it’s jumbo set time with a fullback or extra tight end, someone will come out of the game. And that will likely be the smaller Tank Dell. He’s also coming off a serious injury so he may not be able to battle for a full-time job in camp.
Dalton Schultz - We already explained why we were selling Schultz so hopefully you already did that. He just went from the third fiddle to the fourth fiddle, so things just got even worse.
James Cook - An argument can be made that more targets being available would be better for Cook. But the most concerning thing for Cook is that they only have three running backs on the team. They now have more ammo to maneuver around in the draft where a running back could come in and compete for early down/short yardage work which would include goal line. Even if they don’t add someone, this offense might not be as efficient as it’s been without Diggs and running is the luxury of the winning team.