The Patriots Didn't Fail Stefon Diggs. They Escaped a $63 Million Mistake.

Illustration by Thomas Dyson

As a lifelong Buffalo Bills fan who was born and raised in New England, I happen to know a thing or two about Stefon Diggs. And I’d be lying through my teeth if I didn’t act like he’s a player who I’ve had a fair bit of admiration for. Diggs was beloved by many members of Bills Mafia during his four-year tenure in the Queen City, which included 37 touchdowns and 4 Pro Bowl selections. And despite what some narratives may be pushing, there isn’t necessarily a sour feeling between Diggs and Bills fans—he recently stated that he has nothing but love for the Bills since departing for the Houston Texans in 2024, and quite frankly, I don’t see any reason for love to be lost between the two parties. One of the main reasons for Diggs leaving was the fact that he fell out with the team’s owners, which is a way to win over Bills fans if anything. However, this isn’t about his time in Buffalo, as Stefon Diggs was recently released by the New England Patriots after just one season, which included a rather unprecedented Super Bowl run. Are the Patriots doing themselves a favor by cutting ties with the star receiver, or have they potentially made a rather avoidable mistake?

Diggs’ $21 million dollar a year salary was the joint highest on the Patriots roster, and that in itself is a decent reason to part ways with him—especially when you consider that six million of the sum was set to be guaranteed to Diggs two weeks before they released him. Diggs will turn 33 at the start of the 2026 season, and his longevity is up in the air after he tore his ACL after just 8 games with the Texans in 2024. Diggs’ 4 touchdowns in 2026 aren’t perhaps what the Patriots were expecting him to produce, and certainly aren’t what you’d expect in the highest-paid player on a Super Bowl contending roster. The Patriots want to build a young receiving core to support superstar quarterback Drake Maye, and probably weren’t happy with Diggs’ productivity. Both are similar reasons to why he was released from the Bills, and you can’t help but think as if they’re sensible ones.

But, like any elite wide receiver, there’s more than one side to Stefon Diggs. Signing a 32-year-old wide receiver to a three-year, 63 million dollar contract is always going to come with some risks—and with Stefon Diggs, there are a few more—and that’s his off-field tendencies. Diggs was frustrated with the Bills organization, and his mid-game confrontation with Josh Allen during the 2022 playoffs left a bad taste in the mouths of many Bills fans. And although most Bills fans probably understand his frustrations with the ownership, it isn’t something that’s conducive to a positive work environment. But what most fans will think of when regarding Stefon Diggs’ attitude is an ongoing assault and battery lawsuit that surfaced in December of 2025. It was always known that drama usually follows Stefon Diggs, but recent proceedings seemed to have put it all into perspective for the Patriots organization. The circus surrounding Stefon Diggs simply isn’t worth 4 touchdowns a year, and it certainly isn’t worth 21 million dollars a year.

The Patriots took a gamble while signing Stefon Diggs, and you can’t say it isn’t one that seemed like a decent idea at the time. Off-field drama matched with a lack of productivity on the field isn’t new for Stefon Diggs, and it’s the same reason why the Bills cut ties with him. It seems like this time around, the drama’s gotten more intense, and the lack of production has gotten more severe. The recent move may have generated mixed reactions from Patriots fans, but I can’t help but feel as if Stefon Diggs being released by the New England Patriots is a simple fact of future chaos mitigation rather than something that the organization will go on to regret.