Last April, the Houston Texans swung a blockbuster trade with the Buffalo Bills to acquire wide receiver Stefon Diggs, garnering national headlines.
The Texans were heading into 2024 with a receiving corps that included Diggs, Nico Collins and Tank Dell, so many had crowned Houston as the Kansas City Chiefs’ biggest threat.
Unfortunately, things didn’t really pan out for the Texans, and part of the reason why was because Diggs tore his ACL midway through the season.
Now, Diggs is preparing to hit free agency, and the general feeling is that Houston won’t be bringing him back thanks much in part to its rather unenviable salary cap situation.
Pro Football Focus recently released its list of the top 75 free agents in the NFL this offseason, and it had Diggs ranked 11th.
It also projected Diggs to secure a one-year, $16 million deal on the open market.
“Diggs’ situation has shades of Odell Beckham Jr.’s free agency period in 2023, when he tore his ACL in the Super Bowl in 2021 and did not play in 2022 before signing a one-year, $15 million fully guaranteed contract,” Pro Football Focus wrote.
The Beckham comparison is actually very on point, as the two receivers were also roughly the same age upon hitting free agency (Beckham was 30).
Diggs logged 47 catches for 496 yards and three touchdowns in eight games this past year before going down with the knee injury.
Prior to 2024, the 31-year-old had posted six straight 1,000-yard campaigns and had made four consecutive trips to the Pro Bowl.