After the Bills traded receiver Stefon Diggs to the Texans, the Texans transformed his contract into a one-year deal, paying him $22.25 million in 2024.
Now, less than five months until the start of 2025 free agency, Diggs will commence the process of rehabilitating a torn ACL.
It complicates the future for a player who turns 31 next month. He won’t get a multi-year contract with significant guarantees. He’ll need to do a one-year deal, hopeful to prove himself at a high enough level to perhaps get a better deal in 2026.
Given that it usually takes more than one season to get back to 100 percent, it won’t be easy for Diggs to get anything close to market value. At some point, he might need to decide whether there’s a basement number below which he simply won’t play.
Those are decisions that will need to be made, or not made, down the road. For now, all Diggs can do is rehab and recover and wait for the right situation in 2025. In the end, his best play might be to wait until the contenders emerge next season, picking one for a stretch run that might include a Super Bowl appearance — and possibly a ring.