Disgruntled Diggs Is Back
Dustin Baker
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Disgruntled Diggs is back, a movie Minnesota Vikings fans remember well.
That’s Stefon Diggs, the Buffalo Bills star wideout who arrived in the AFC East after talking his way out of Minnesota in 2020. Diggs became disillusioned with the Vikings run-first offense in 2019, skipped practice after a loss to the Chicago Bears, was fined, and later demanded a trade from then-GM Rick Spielman.
Spielman obliged after the 2019 season, shipping Diggs to the Bills for draft picks that would turn into Justin Jefferson, Camryn Bynum, Kenny Willekes, and others.
Disgruntled Diggs Is Back
Joe Buscaglia, a Bills reporter for The Atheltic, tweeted about Diggs after Buffalo’s 27-10 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC’s Divisional Round, “Bills WR Stefon Diggs darted out of the locker room with all his stuff before some of the Bills coaches were even down to the tunnel area. Practice squad RB Duke Johnson stopped Diggs before he left the stadium and brought him back to the locker room. He left a few minutes later.”
The Bengals dominated the Bills cover to cover in a game where most NFL fans waited for the proverbial Josh Allen-led comeback that just didn’t arrive. The Bills didn’t look good, had the home crowd at their backs, and collapsed before the Super Bowl on a grand stage for the third year in a row.
Diggs also expressed frustration on the sideline, interacting with Allen and flailing his arms around.
After the game and the apparent early exit from the stadium, Bills head coach Sean McDermott defended his All-Pro receiver, “That’s what makes him good, is what you saw. It hurts, and I wouldn’t want a guy that doesn’t hurt.”
Diggs is an absolutely stand-up human being and emphatically isn’t known as a locker-room cancer or anything of the sort. Yet, he’s never skittish about expressing emotion, sometimes via cryptic avenues. During the lead-up to the Vikings trade with the Bills, Diggs posted lyrics and other strange statements to Twitter ad nauseam to cryptically stir the pot. And then the “cryptic tweets” culminated with his departure from the Vikings and one final tweet, “It’s time for a new beginning.”
From the moment last year’s Super Bowl ended until about 5:00 pm EST on January 22nd, the Bills were the frontrunner to win the championship in February — by virtually everybody — because of a stacked roster, supposed hunger for glory, and the aforementioned Allen awaiting a leap to “the next big thing.” But the Bengals had other plans, as Joe Burrow and Co. advanced to the AFC Championship to play the Bills arch rival, the Chiefs.
Diggs is under contract with the Bills through the end of 2027.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. He hosts a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday with Raun Sawh and Sal Spice. His Vikings obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ and The Doors (the band).
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