Fantasy Football Impact of Stefon Diggs Trade: C.J. Stroud, Nico Collins, Tank Dell, Josh Allen, Curtis Samuel and More
A big-time trade sends Stefon Diggs from the Buffalo Bills to the Houston Texans in exchange for draft picks. Let's break down the fantasy implications.
The Buffalo Bills are trading stud receiver Stefon Diggs to the Houston Texans in exchange for a 2025 second-round pick via Minnesota. Houston also receives a 2024 sixth-round pick and a 2025 fifth-round pick.
I always say it's better to be a year early than a year late. Diggs takes a four-year, $75M contract with him to Houston. The Bills eat $31M of dead cap, but that’s just the cost of doing business. Buffalo will likely have their eye on at least one wide receiver in the upcoming draft, but they’ve got pass-catchers.
Firstly, let’s acknowledge that Diggs will turn 31 this season. Has he slowed down? Debatable. He’s posted six straight 1,000-yard seasons, four straight Pro Bowls, and at least 100 receptions in five of his last six seasons.
Do the Bills need him? Again, debatable. It’s a big loss, but that doesn’t mean other players can’t step up. Buffalo signed Curtis Samuel to a three-year, $30M deal a few weeks back. Does that completely replace Diggs? No. However, Samuel did have his best season back in 2020 with Carolina with Joe Brady, the Bills’ new offensive coordinator.
Buffalo also has Dalton Kincaid entering Year 2 and Dawson Knox. One of the better one-two punches at the tight end position across the NFL. James Cook came into his own last season and can pick up the slack as an above-average receiving back.
The Bills must have some faith in Justin Shorter, a long, athletic 23-year-old receiver who spent much of the 2023 season on injured reserve. And Khalil Shakir is a shifty speedster who looked much improved in his second season.
But hey, let’s talk about the young team with one of the more impressive receiver trios in the NFL. Diggs joins Nico Collins and Tank Dell in Houston, and with C.J. Stroud under center, the sky’s the limit for each of these guys.
Dell only played 11 games last year, but if you extrapolate his 47-709-7 line over a full season, he would have 73-1,096-11. We haven’t seen a trio like this since maybe The Greatest Show on Turf, back in the Kurt Warner, St. Louis Rams days with Isaac Bruce, Torry Holt and Az-Zahir Hakim.
The debate that looked to rage all offseason possibly was whether fantasy managers should take Collins or Dell; now the question is, who do you take between all three?
When you consider the Texans already added Joe Mixon to the backfield to join Dameon Pierce, this was already a pretty exciting offense. Now, it has to be considered one of the best in the NFL.
Before this trade, you would have had to consider Stroud around QB5 or 6. When the dust settles, he is locked in at QB5 behind Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, Patrick Mahomes II and Jalen Hurts. I could even see pushing into that first tier if you’re not that high on Hurts or Allen.
The big fantasy winners here are mostly on the Bills, as Diggs’s departure opens up a lot of targets, particularly for Kincaid, who was already going to be a popular sleeper tight end this season after Gabe Davis moved on.
I don’t know that there’s a fantasy loser. I would’ve already expected Collins and Dell to take turns going back and forth with big weeks. Now, we just have to add another receiver to the carousel. Ultimately, the Texans' offense's more firepower might just create more opportunities for all involved. Move the chains, keep drives alive, and it all turns into more fantasy points.
From a GM’s perspective, I like this trade a lot more for the Bills. They get off a big contract and open cap space to find Diggs’ replacement during the draft. But the Texans are a near-lock to win the AFC South and if DeMeco Ryans gets this defense turned around with help from his big acquisition of Danielle Hunter, look out AFC. Houston is loading up to compete with the best of the conference.
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