Stefon Diggs Rumors: 'Belief' Bills Will Rework Contract, Avoid Trade in Free Agency

The Buffalo Bills are reportedly expected to rework Stefon Diggs' contract this offseason rather than trading or releasing the four-time Pro Bowl wide receiver.

During an appearance Tuesday on Get Up, ESPN's Jeff Darlington said the following about what the Bills plan to do with Diggs:

"He has made very clear that he's 'ready for whatever,' exactly his sentiments that he shared on social media. And the Bills do have a little bit of a pickle that they're in to try to figure this out. He has a salary cap hit this coming season of $27.9 million. This last weekend, $18 million of his salary for this coming season became guaranteed so this isn't a situation where the Bills are going to cut him by any means and give him any type of freedom.

"If they were to get rid of Stefon Diggs, if they couldn't rework his contract, it would require a trade. But there's also a belief that they can get to a place with Diggs that they can get a restructured contract to still keep him in Buffalo and still keep him happy. As we know, though, last offseason this got a little bit sticky. We'll see if general manager Brandon Beane, one of the best in the league, can keep this situation peaceful and keep Stefon Diggs on the roster this coming season."

Buffalo originally acquired Diggs in a trade with the Minnesota Vikings in 2020, and they signed him to a four-year, $96 million contract extension in 2022, meaning he is under contract through 2027.

The 30-year-old Diggs has been among the top wideouts in the league since arriving in Buffalo, earning a Pro Bowl nod and topping both 100 catches and 1,100 yards in each of his four seasons with the team.

That included a first-team All-Pro selection in 2020 when he led the NFL with 127 receptions for 1,535 yards and also scored eight touchdowns.

Diggs' overall numbers were solid last season, as he had 107 grabs for 1,183 yards and eight scores, but over the teams final eight games, he never had more than 87 receiving yards in a single contest and scored a total of one touchdown.

Given his poor finish to the season and his penchant for cryptic tweets, there has been plenty of speculation about Diggs' future in Buffalo. However, there have been no legitimate rumors about the Bills even considering the possibility of moving on from him.

Cutting or trading Diggs would be significantly damaging to the Bills' salary cap situation.

Per Spotrac, a pre-June 1 release would result in $49.5 million in dead cap and a pre-June 1 trade would give them a dead cap hit of $31 million.

A post-June 1 release would yield a dead cap hit of $27.3 million this year and $22.2 million next year, whereas a post-June 1 trade would result in $8.8 million in dead cap and $19 million in cap savings this year, but also a $22.2 million dead cap hit next year.

The Bills can ill afford to take any addition dead cap this year since they have the fourth-least cap space in the league currently at $7.4 million, according to OverTheCap.com.

If the Bills intend to keep their No. 1 wide receiver and pair him with free-agent signing Curtis Samuel, as well as a potential early draft pick, they have a couple options to make his contract more palatable.

The Bills could do a simple restructure, which would save money against the cap this year, but also push more money down the line and make the cap hit bigger next year and beyond.

Another option would be to convert some of Diggs' salary into incentives, which is essentially a pay cut, but it is unclear if Diggs would be willing to go that route.

Ultimately, the Bills are a Super Bowl contender, and there is almost no realistic scenario where they trade or release Diggs since they would be quarterback Josh Allen's No. 1 target and taking significant dead money in the process.