Stefon Diggs speaks out about exit from Buffalo Bills

In his latest interview with GQ, Stefon Diggs finally spoke out about his exit from the Buffalo Bills. The seemingly year-long situation that culminated in his trade to the Houston Texans has been highly speculated on, but now new information has come to light. Diggs isn't the first star to speak on his exit, as Josh Allen spoke to Chris Long on the Green Light Podcast earlier this summer.

""I still love that guy like a brother, and he was so good for us here. We had a lot of fun, too. People can say what they want to say, but we had a lot of success and a lot of fun doing it - on and off the field. We were very [close].""

- Josh Allen on Diggs (19:13)

Stefon Diggs On His Exit

Diggs, who's longstanding policy on being elusive with the media has swung from endearing to frustrating and back again a few times, was more upfront in this interview than we've seen. Perhaps speaking to a staff reporter at a fashion magazine instead of the typical sports media made him comfortable, because we finally have some of that missing context.

In regards to being traded from both Minnesota, and then Buffalo:

""None of those teams wanted to get rid of me- Things had to shake because I kind of wanted them to shake.”"

- Diggs on being traded

Diggs implies that he was traded at his own request, which would fall in line with reports from Minnesota back in 2020. The Buffalo Bills have been rather tight-lipped on everything since 2017, and so no reports have been confirmed, but this interview provides that answer.

He implies that he knew he'd be traded this season, and had known for quite some time:

""We had some talks with Buffalo- We knew where things were going—I did, at least. The outside world had so much speculation. I knew, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year to the offseason, exactly what was going on. Not too much confusion on my end.""

- Diggs on leaving Buffalo

Diggs on His 2023 Season

Stefon Diggs had an impressive half season with Buffalo in 2023, before dropping off the map as the offense found ways to win without him. As the ball came out of his hands, things changed for Diggs. His mental state seems to have been the trigger for his trade:

"Last year, I was in the worst mental space I’ve been in since I’ve been in the league,” Diggs says. “If I'm not in a good space, obviously that's not the best for me. So that's when things had to start shaking out.”"

- Diggs on deciding to move on

His interviewer asked him about how vocal he is about wanting the ball:

""I don’t know one star in any sport that doesn’t want the ball- If you ain’t getting the ball, and it’s not a problem, you ain’t no competitor.”"

- Diggs on wanting the ball

The interviewer, Clay Skipper, notes that this next quote comes from Diggs 'specifically highlighting the fact his drop in stats coincided with the Bills’ decision to replace their offensive coordinator':

""Watch the game. Of course there’s plenty of plays I want back. But there’s a lot of plays that didn’t go my way. I need a lot of things to go right to get the ball…. You can't roll out of bed and get 800 yards in the first eight games. Your best receiver’s doing that. You tell me about the last 10. What changed? Were there changes going on? I just pay attention to what really happened and not what people try to act like happened. Like, for the last 10 games, I forgot how to fucking play football?”"

- Diggs, on his 2023 season

It's clear that taking the focus away from Diggs as the number 1 threat in the Buffalo Bills offense led to the deterioration of his relationship with the team, at least from Stefon's side. In his mind, it seems that if they'd kept feeding him, he would have continued to excel. When given the opportunities late in the season and postseason, however, there were in fact "plenty of plays I want back". We cannot know how it would have played out, but it's a bone of contention for the former Bills WR1.

When asked about playing with C.J. Stroud this season instead of Josh Allen, he had this to say:

""He’s one of those kids that can be the MVP, and I’m saying that wholeheartedly. I don’t gas.""

- Diggs on C.J. Stroud this season

All-in-all, the interview will be eye-opening to many. Diggs attitude towards the game of football, and motivations behind his exit are clear. He was ready to move on and try somewhere else, unhappy with the ball being taken away from him as the 2023 seasons progressed, and was willing to see if he could succeed elsewhere. It remains to be seen if he's able to be the focal point in Houston, in a receiver room loaded with talent.