Stefon Diggs Trade, Tom Brady's Exit Put AFC East in Hands of the Buffalo Bills

The New England Patriots' stranglehold over the AFC East is about to end, with the Buffalo Bills ready to earn the title of the division's best squad.

The Patriots have claimed the last 11 division crowns and 17 of 19 with Tom Brady as the team's starting quarterback. A pair of earth-shattering decisions—the Stefon Diggs trade and Brady's departure from New England—were made Monday and Tuesday to change the landscape of the NFL's most predictable division, and a clear front-runner has emerged from the ashes of the old hierarchy. 

The Buffalo Bills are now the AFC East's team to beat. 

Yes, you read that correctly. 

Last year's upstart squad bowed out in the first round of the playoffs after surrendering a 16-0 second-half lead to Deshaun Watson and the Houston Texans. However, the Bills have continued to build their team in the right way. 

Most importantly, they will no longer have to face Brady twice a year after 20 long seasons. The six-time Super Bowl champion announced Tuesday that he'll be moving on in free agency. 

The unthinkable has happened. The G.O.A.T. will wear another uniform next season, whether it's with Los Angeles Chargers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers or some other squad. 

The importance of this change can't be overstated. 

Brady brought stability. The Patriots dynasty is the greatest of all time because of the franchise's adaptability to the league's ever-changing landscape. Players came and went. The quarterback and head coach Bill Belichick were the two constants. 

Sure, the Patriots are still spearheaded by the greatest mind to ever walk the sidelines. At the same time, the rapport between Belichick and Brady helped make the Patriots into what they are. 

"I see the game through a coach's eyes. And Tom sees it through a quarterback's eyes." Belichick said during NFL Network's 100 Greatest reveal. "And so, he'll comment to me: 'Well, this is what I saw on this play. Maybe do this.' ... He has a tremendous ability to see the field and see the game."

Whoever walks into Gillette Stadium as the Patriots' next starter under center can't replace the relationship Brady and Belichick built over two decades. Sure, capable options are available in Nick Foles or Andy Dalton, as examples, but they're not Brady, even at Brady's advanced age. 

"Tommy initiated contact last night and came over," Patriots owner Robert Kraft told ESPN's Mike Reiss. "We had a positive, respectful discussion. It's not the way I want it to end, but I want him to do what is in his best personal interest. After 20 years with us, he has earned that right. I love him like a son"

The Patriots are starting over. It's not a rebuild situation, but it might as well be considering the passing of one era to the next. And the organization knew it was time. 

According to NBC Sports Boston's Tom E. Curran, a legitimate effort to retain the soon-to-be 43-year-old never materialized. 

"If Tom wanted to remain a Patriot, we would have had a deal," Kraft told NFL Network's Michael Giardi. 

Bill Sikes/Associated Press

New England will be well-prepared under Belichick's supervision, and the team will remain competitive. At the same time, the Patriots have legitimate issues they must address between now and the start of the 2020 regular season. And Brady isn't the only key free agent they lost.

Linebackers Kyle Van Noy and Jamie Collins agreed to deals with the Miami Dolphins and Detroit Lions, respectively, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. Besides quarterback, the team has gaping holes at tight end, edge-rusher and linebacker. 

With the biggest obstacle now far more surmountable, Buffalo can build upon the strong foundation established by head coach Sean McDermott and general manager Brandon Beane.

The organization added some awfully nice window dressing Monday when it traded 2020 first-, fifth- and sixth-round draft picks, along with a 2021 four-round selection, to the Minnesota Vikings for Diggs and a 2020 seventh-round draft pick, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter. 

Diggs' acquisition is merely the latest step in changing the Bills' organizational approach. 

McDermott's hire in January 2017 was a drastic change of pace after two seasons under Rex Ryan. The then-first-time head coach emphasized a culture change. He removed locker room games, rearranged locker room stalls that grouped players by position, established a mantra of "earning the right to win," took over as the franchise's sole voice and established a leadership council among the players, according to ESPN's Mike Rodak. 

Those moves set the stage for everything that followed, including significant personnel decisions. An improved culture is only as good as the talent of those who buy into it. 

Michael Wyke/Associated Press

In Year 2, the Bills accomplished what every rebuilding franchise must achieve: They found their franchise quarterback in Josh Allen with the seventh overall pick of the 2018 NFL draft. And Allen didn't just fall into the organization's proverbial lap. Beane and McDermott traded up to acquire the Wyoming product. 

Last offseason, Buffalo did everything to make life easier for Allen. It signed six free-agent offensive linemen to rework one of the worst offensive fronts in 2018 and drafted Cody Ford in the second round. It also signed reliable wide receivers John Brown and Cole Beasley. It acquired running backs Frank Gore and Devin Singletary to share the backfield. 

The defense, meanwhile, excelled under McDermott's direction and finished 2019 as the league's second-best unit, allowing only 16.2 points per game. 

Step by step, the Bills built something sustainable. Now, they're adding strategic pieces to complement everything they accomplished over the last three seasons. 

Charles Rex Arbogast/Associated Press

At 6'0", 191 pounds, Diggs doesn't have the size many expected from the Bills' next receiver. (After all, McDermott called his wideouts "Smurfs" last July.) 

However, the five-year veteran is an outstanding route-runner and a legitimate deep threat. He posted career highs last season with 1,130 receiving yards and an average of 17.9 yards per catch. The latter number ranked second overall among receivers with 60 or more receptions. 

Now, the Bills have a complete receiver corps with Diggs as the primary option, Brown as his bookend and Beasley in the slot. They don't have to worry about drafting a rookie target to break in, which many expected would be the plan with the 22nd overall pick in April's draft.

Instead, they can concentrate on other positions throughout free agency and let the draft come to them. The team took a similar approach last year and benefited when Ed Oliver was surprisingly available at No. 9. The front office will have to wait a little longer before it makes its first selection this year, but the same principle applies: Take the best player available to supplement an already talented roster.

The Bills look like they're on track to win their first division title in 25 years thanks to the uncertainty in New England, the Miami Dolphins' continued rebuild and the New York Jets' struggle to piece together a plan so far this offseason. 

Brent Sobleski covers the NFL for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter, @brentsobleski.