lol From the title of the article, I thought I was about to read a 'major update,' but all it said was, 'I think he stays in Houston.' Good write up SI
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/sp...obby-slowik-stefon-diggs-mailbag-20047551.php Diggs' mother posted on Instagram that she’d like to see her son play for his hometown team, the Washington Commanders, or stay in Houston. Diggs has also said he’d be open to returning to Houston. And he also counts $16.6 million against next season’s salary cap as the Texans deferred money to the future when they restructured his deal. Extending him could help with that. In the end, I think it will come down to money. How willing is Caserio to pay Diggs close to what he wants, considering his age and now his injury history. Or will another team offer more? Is Diggs willing to take somewhat of a pay cut to stay? Based on the Texans lack of cap space and other priorities, I think what will happen is they will add an inexpensive veteran in free agency and a young receiver within the first three rounds of the draft.
I really like Diggs BUT, he is getting up in age and his injuries are adding up. Unless he is going to play on the cheap, I say we get younger cheaper options. Nick is going to have to be careful as we don't have a ton of cap space like we did and I am curious to see if Sting gets extended this off season. Top 2 CB are at $24 Million per year so he will get north of that.
We've heard this kind of thing about other players before and it ALWAYS ends up being about the money and nothing else.
The ideal scenario is they get a speed guy to replace Tank, a Christian Kirk or Elijah More, draft an Egbuka, Tre Harris or Kyren Lacy then fold Diggs in early in the season. I want him to stay and he's more than likely going to take a "team friendly" deal but they can’t go into the season with him as the expected #2, he may end the season in that role but he won't be ready until August. I think he can still be a chain mover but it won't look the same
If he counts $16.6m against the cap next year and we sign him to a contract for that amount, does it still just count for $16.6m? Given his age and injury, will any other team offer more than $16.6m?
Fast forward to today, January 23, 2025, and the two sides have until February 17th, 2025 to agree to a new contract. If that does not occur, the 2025-2028 contract years will be void leaving Houston with $16.64 million in dead money. For Stefon Diggs, I would propose a two-year contract worth a base value of $25.0 million, including $11.48 million guaranteed. The contract would include three void years for salary cap purposes. APY value against the (projected) league salary cap is 4.6%. The contract would also include performance incentives (receptions, playing time, receiving yards, and honors) that would push the total value to $29.0 million. Yes, there are three years of contract with money, but there is a reason I set the structure like this. With the minimum salary in 2027, this allows the team to complete a “post-June 1” designated release at the start of the 2027 league year to split the dead money (as noted above) between 2027 and 2028. The use of the “post-June 1” designation would be known to Diggs ahead of time. The contract also has a $3.02 million lump sum roster bonus in 2026, due on the 5th day of the 2026 league year. This would facilitate a “prove-it” situation in 2025 to earn a sizeable early cash bonus for your reward, on top of any earned incentives. This contract would generate $6.963 million in salary cap savings for the 2025 league year for the Houston Texans. The team is very tight against the salary cap and will need to find ways to free up cap space. This contract is a big bet, let’s be honest here. If Diggs is unable to return his expected performance or were to get injured again, Houston would then be saddled with $19.683 million in dead money to manage, likely with the aforementioned “post-June 1” designation a year earlier than planned. This contract would place Stefon Diggs as the 32nd highest paid wide receiver in terms of Average Per Year (APY). The veteran street-free agent could be an option for the Texans. Players such as Cooper Kupp (LAR), Tyler Lockett (SEA), Christian Kirk (JAX), and Jauan Jennings (SF). Street free agents, to be confused with unrestricted free agents, generally are signed at a discount compared to market value. The unrestricted free agent market is also pretty slim. Potential wide receiver #2 targets could be Chris Godwin, Amari Cooper, Marquise Brown, Demarcus Robinson, Josh Palmer, Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, Tim Patrick, and Elijah Moore.
