Buffalo Bills make salary cap history with Stefon Diggs trade

In a shocking move on Wednesday morning, the Buffalo Bills reportedly agreed to a trade with the Houston Texans that sends former All-Pro wide receiver Stefon Diggs and a couple of Day 3 draft picks to the AFC South team for a 2025 second round pick. The idea of trading Diggs seemed almost unfathomable at this point of the offseason because of his contract.

This upcoming season was only the first of a four year extension that he signed in 2022 that was worth $96 million. If the Bills were to trade him before June 1st, it would result in dead cap amount around $31 million. According to Spotrac, that is the biggest single-season dead cap hit in NFL history for non-QBs.

The other players on the list include Russell Wilson, Matt Ryan, Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, and Carson Wentz.

Stefon Diggs holds the biggest cap hit for the Buffalo Bills in 2024

By trading Diggs now, he moves up to the top of the Bills salary cap in terms of cap hits and is now just ahead of Josh Allen, who is at $30.3 million this season. It is remarkable to think that the Bills would make a move that now accounts for roughly 11% of the salary cap this year for a player who is not even on the team.

In addition, the Bills will lose roughly $4 million in cap space this offseason. The good news though is that the Bills will save $19 million in cash and have created significant salary cap room for 2025, along with adding a second round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. That draft pick could be useful if the team wants to trade up now in this year's NFL Draft to select Stefon Diggs replacement at wide receiver.