Bills send Diggs to Texans in blockbuster trade

The Buffalo Bills are trading star wide receiver Stefon Diggs to the Houston Texans in exchange for a 2025 second-round pick, NFL Network reported.

Diggs heads to Houston to team up with second-year quarterback CJ Stroud, who led the Texans to an unlikely playoff berth on his way to winning Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2023.

The 30-year-old departs after four years with the Bills having arrived in 2020 via a trade from the Minnesota Vikings, where he was drafted in the fifth round in 2015.

NFL insider Ian Rapoport reported that the Bills are also sending the Texans a 2025 fifth-round pick and 2024 sixth-round pick alongside Diggs.

Dealing for Diggs marks the latest statement of intent from the Texans as they bid to maximise the rookie contract of star quarterback Stroud, who was the second overall pick out of Ohio State at the 2023 Draft as the face of a new era under head coach DeMeco Ryans.

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Diggs becomes the marquee veteran name with whom to lead the Texans offense, joining a pass-catching group that already includes Nico Collins – who led the team with 1,297 receiving yards last season – Tank Dell, Dalton Schultz, Noah Brown Brevin Jordan and John Metchie III.

Houston also strengthened in the backfield earlier in the offseason when they signed former Cincinnati Bengals running back Joe Mixon to partner Dameon Pierce. The Texans also bolstered their options on defense by acquiring former Vikings edge rusher Danielle Hunter and former Tennessee Titans defensive end Denico Autry.

Diggs finished the 2023 campaign with 1,183 receiving yards, marking the lowest of his four years with the Bills as he failed to register a 100-yard game from Week Six onwards. He did, though, make the Pro Bowl for the fourth consecutive year in Buffalo, with whom he amassed 445 catches for 5,372 yards and 37 touchdowns in 66 regular season games.

He signed a four-year, $140m contract extension with the Bills in April 2022 as Josh Allen’s lead weapon. Despite their production together in what has been deemed a Championship-ready team, the Bills remain in pursuit of their first Super Bowl appearance having fallen at the AFC Championship Game in Diggs’ first season with the team before losing in the Divisional Round in three straight years.

Diggs’ departure leaves dual-threat running back James Cook, young receiver Khalil Shakir, veterans Curtis Samuel and Mack Hollins and a tight end tandem of Dawson Knox and Dalton Kincaid as the team’s primary weapons.