The NFL offseason isn’t even old enough to walk yet and Stefon Diggs is already out here sparking controversy:
Stefon Diggs deleted everything on IG Vikings related pic.twitter.com/jS0g6oxnOA
— Ryan Sjoberg (@Ryan_Sjoberg) February 18, 2020
Now Diggs and the Vikings have had a tremulous relationship as of late. The All-Pro wide receiver was not shy about hiding his annoyance with Minnesota’s offense during the 2019 season and what he felt was a diminished role. He wasn’t totally wrong as he did see a major drop in targets and receptions from his 2018 season—149 vs 94 and 102 vs 63 respectively.
Even despite the decrease in targets and receptions, Diggs still managed to put together an extremely productive season, going for 1,130 receiving yards (100 more than his 2018 season) and six touchdowns. Diggs can certainly put forward WR1 numbers and it seems like he feels he should have the role to match. That’s likely not happening in Minnesota with a run-first offense and Adam Thielen still around.
Now before I give you a whole bunch of tantalizing landing spots, I want to say that there is a small chance Diggs gets traded this offseason. He still has four years left on the $72 million deal he signed in 2019. Trading him would result in $9M in dead money for the Vikings and whatever team that got him would take on almost $57M. Not an easy contract to swallow.
But it’s the offseason and the offseason’s number one past time is to wildly speculate, so that’s what we’re here to do. Here are six teams that could not only use Stefon Digg’s talent, but would also give a nice boost to his fantasy value for 2020 (in no particular order).
Philadelphia Eagles
Pairing the Eagles with any free agent/unhappy wide receiver is akin to saying nice anytime you see the number 69: you just can’t not do it. The Eagles had a makeshift group of no-namers in 2019 catching the football and still managed to throw the football the eighth most in the league. That’s a ton of opportunity for Diggs to step into with no clear number one wide receiver to compete with. Plus, giving Carson Wentz a reliable target like Diggs out wide would help boost his fantasy value as well, especially after a season in which he managed to play all 16 games and throw for 4,000+ yards.
New England Patriots
I’m almost certain Tom Brady will still be in New England come 2020 but he won’t resign if the Patriots sit on their hands and do nothing to help bolster a very lack luster passing game. Trading for Diggs seems like the quintessential Belichick move: snagging an extremely talented receiver who fell out of favor with his team and unleashing him to the world. It wouldn’t be the first time we saw a Vikings receiver reinvigorate his career in New England. Diggs would bring a reliable target for Brady, something they were severely missing outside of Julian Edelman.
Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys had one of the best passing games in 2019, second only to the Buccaneers in passing yards per game. Now, there’s a chance for a ton of turnover in this offense, but I have a hard time believing Jerry Jones is going to let Dak Prescott leave Dallas which means he’ll likely get slapped with the franchise tag. What that means is Amari Cooper will almost certainly hit free agency which means there’s a good chance he’s off with another team in 2020 (*cough* Cardinals *cough*). Losing Cooper would obviously open up a very large hole at the number one receiver position. We know the Cowboys have no problem trading big to get their guy. Diggs in Dallas’ downfield passing attack would be fantasy gold!
Jacksonville Jaguars
I firmly believe in Gardner Minshew and because of that, I’m giving him a true, number one receiver to play with. Just imagine Minshew charging around the pocket, breaking free just long enough to heave the ball downfield to a wide open Stefon Diggs. MMMHMMM that’s a good image. Obviously this would slightly dampen the D.J. Chark sequel (2 DJ 2 Chark) but you have to admit, Chark and Diggs in the same offense would be wicked fun to watch. And wicked terrifying for secondaries everywhere.
San Francisco 49ers
When you’re talking explosive passing games, you have to mention the 49ers. We’ve seen the damage Kyle Shanahan’s play action can do in the passing game and putting Stefon Diggs into that offense would be deadly. Hell, we saw Diggs more or less in that offense this year with the Vikings and he was deadly! Is this my top choice for Diggs? No. He’d likely still deal with a lot of the issues he feels like he’s facing in Minnesota: a run-first offense with a clear cut number one target in front of him (George Kittle instead of Thielen). Still, a change of scenery might be all he needs and we saw both Emmanuel Sanders (who’s a free agent) and Deebo Samuel have huge fantasy success in San Francisco.
Baltimore Ravens
I’m saving the best for last. Lamar Jackson led the league in passing touchdowns this season yet only attempted 401 passes (26th in the league). Part of that is the Ravens offense, but part of that is also having no real receivers to throw to. Mark Andrews emerged as a top tier tight end and Marquise Brown showed flashes, but adding Diggs would help continue Jackson’s growth as a passer and make this Ravens offense even more difficult to stop. And playing with someone as unique as Jackson would certainly help pad Diggs’ stats as defenses would be worried about Jackson scrambling, putting Diggs in a lot of one-on-one matchups, something he can take full advantage of.
Poll
If Diggs gets traded, where would you want him to go?
This poll is closed
-
40%
Eagles
-
6%
Patriots
-
8%
Cowboys
-
13%
Jaguars
-
6%
49ers
-
24%
Ravens