Diggs drama remains a talking point in Buffalo

Orchard Park, N.Y. –– The fact that Josh Allen brought up his relationship with former teammate Stefon Diggs unprompted during his weekly Wednesday media availability was proof that the Buffalo Bills star quarterback had something he wanted to get off his chest.

It had to do with the interpretation of his comments following Monday night’s 47-10 win over Jacksonville when Allen was asked a question about having six different players catch touchdown passes. Allen said it was a “fun and wonderful thing when you got a bunch of guys that don’t care about the stats.”

True as that may be with the Bills and their “everyone eats” mantra, Allen’s words were immediately taken as a shot at Diggs, who served as the Bills No. 1 target during his four years in Buffalo, getting more than 29 per cent of Allen’s throws last season.

When asked a similar question on Wednesday, one that might have elicited similar comments from Allen, the quarterback called an audible and took the conversation in another direction.

"I know there's a lot of people talking out there, again, I'm not trying to tear down anybody," Allen said. "I've loved everybody that I've played with, and you don't have to tear other people down to build each other up. And we're building each other up right now and that's all we're trying to do and trying to stay together as a team. We're really caring about each other, and everybody in this building has got that feeling."

When asked to clarify his comments, he replied "You know what I mean. You know what I mean…”

Allen was then asked if he was referring specifically to Diggs.

"Yeah, and again, I love 14, I still do. But everyone wants to keep making this thing a thing,” Allen replied. “We're so focused on what's going on inside of our building and that's the only thing we're caring about right now."

It’s entirely possible that there is no personal bitterness between Allen and Diggs, and there has never been a suggestion that Allen wanted him gone.

Allen is a player who respects the game and everyone in it, so it makes sense that he’d be upset at seeing Monday’s comments come to life with unintended meaning.

But try as Allen might, this story won’t die down in the least before the Bills face the Houston Texans on Oct. 6, where Diggs has accepted a role as second fiddle to rising star Nico Collins.

In Diggs’ absence in Buffalo are the simmering coals of speculation about his relationship Allen, which were fanned by the quarterback’s comments Monday night – intended or not.

The Diggs drama spiked after the Bills lost a playoff game 27-10 to Cincinnati in January of 2023. Diggs had four catches for 35 yards on 10 targets in the loss, and demonstrated his frustration to Allen on the sidelines before a reportedly hasty exit from the locker room following the game.

The chatter over that act was still simmering when Diggs suddenly departed the team for a day at OTA practice the following spring, which was followed by a moment of truth from head coach Sean McDermott who said he was “very concerned” about Diggs’ absence.

The truth of the beef between Diggs and McDermott has never been revealed, although the star receiver denied it had anything to do with him demanding input into the offensive gameplan.

The next twist came in November, when the Bills fired offensive co-ordinator Ken Dorsey and replaced him with quarterback coach Joe Brady, who’d held that title with the Carolina Panthers and also ran Joe Burrow’s offence during his championship season at LSU.

Almost overnight, the offence became less focused on Diggs.

The receiver’s production plummeted the rest of the season, and in the Bills two most crucial games of the season, at Kansas City on Dec. 10 and hosting the Chiefs in the divisional playoff in January, Diggs failed to hit 25 yards receiving.

More damning was his drop of a bomb Allen placed perfectly in his hands during the second half of the playoff game. Instead of tapping his chest to say “my bad” he held two fingers an inch apart, as if to say “just missed me.”

It was the last time Bills Mafia would ever see Diggs playing for the home team, his exit coming via a trade to Houston in exchange for a second-round pick in April.

Diggs’ relationship with Allen was a constant source of speculation throughout his time in Buffalo. But the drama between him and the Bills goes well beyond that.

When you decide to jettison your second-highest player and take a massive dead-money cap hit to do so, then immediately adopt a team-first mantra and offensive philosophy that comes with its own slogan, people are going to draw some conclusions.

Yes, the moment “everyone eats” was born, it was widely understood this was something that never could have been tried with Diggs around.

And that’s the context through which Allen’s words were being received on Monday night.

The fact that the offence is playing so well, with the Bills leading the NFL in scoring, is an almost unimaginable delight for Bills Mafia.

Fans in Western New York are big on athletes who embrace their part of the country and not so big on those who aren’t happy and want out.

Allen may want no part in this drama. But the satisfaction in Buffalo from seeing the Diggs trade turn into addition by subtraction will only grow if the Bills keep winning.