The Buffalo Bills could move for free agent wide receivers Adam Thielen and Odell Beckham Jr. in an attempt to please star Stefon Diggs.
Diggs vented his frustrations during an appearance on HBO’s The Shop as the playoff heartache of the last few years has clearly taken it's toll on the receiver. After getting to the AFC Championship in 2020 during Diggs’ first year in Buffalo, the Bills have lost in the divisional round in successive seasons.
The 29-year-old is a superstar receiver who had a top-five season last year; Diggs finished with 108 receptions (4th overall), 1,429 receiving yards (5th), and 11 touchdowns (tied-3rd). However, while Buffalo were considered one of the favourites for the Super Bowl, they needed additional receiver help in the form of Cole Beasley, who they signed during the season.
On Friday, it was announced that the Minnesota Vikings - Diggs’ former team - had released his old running mate Thielen. Thielen has since claimed he will only sign with a contender that features a superstar quarterback, and Josh Allen certainly fits that mould.
Beckham Jr. could also be in line to sign with the Bills after he visited the franchise last season. The star receiver missed the entire 2022 season after tearing his ACL in Super Bowl LVI, but he is set to return in 2023 and held a workout in Arizona on Friday in front of several teams, although the Bills were not one of them.
Ultimately, Diggs is trying to understand why the Bills have failed to reach the Super Bowl over the last few seasons despite being a regular season juggernaut. The Bills reached were beaten by the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship game in 2020 - while the Chiefs and the Cincinnati Bengals have accounted for them in the divisional round in 2021 and 2022, with many fans suggesting the Bills were favourites last season.
“It doesn’t make sense,” Diggs said on The Shop. “ I’ll rack my brain with this s*** at this point.
“My first year we got to the AFC Championship. The next year we lose by 13 seconds. Close misses.”
When asked what Buffalo might need to get over the hump, Diggs added: “I think it’s more execution than anything... s*** is small little pieces on why it’s not going right. We’ve got the players. We’ve got the plays. Why s*** ain’t coming together? That’s where you draw some of those questions.
“I never want to question who I am, I never want to question how I am. I’m giving this s*** everything I’ve got. I’m dying on the hill for that.”
Buffalo finished with a 13-3 record and clinched the AFC East title for a third straight year in 2022, but injuries to stars like Von Miller and off-the-field issues affected them. Damar Hamlin’s horrific on-field cardiac arrest undoubtedly emotionally exhausted the franchise, with the team appearing sluggish during their defeat to the Cincinnati Bengals.
Perhaps Thielen or Beckham Jr. will provide the spark Diggs is yearning for as the Bills chase the Lombardi Trophy once more in 2023.
