One of the bigger moves this NFL offseason came when the Buffalo Bills opted to trade Pro Bowl wide receiver Stefon Diggs to the Houston Texans. Surprisingly, Bills quarterback Josh Allen has been largely quiet about the big move. But he opened up about his former teammate on Thursday.
Diggs came to Buffalo in Allen’s third season in the NFL. And as soon as the two united, Allen began to really come into his own as a quarterback.
Even since acquiring Diggs, Allen has been among the top quarterbacks in all of football. So his departure certainly could affect his play negatively unless the team opts to make a significant move for a top wideout before the start of the 2024-25 season.
Allen realizes the differences in his numbers without Diggs over the course of his career, but said that there is now an opportunity for some of the new players on the team to step up.
“You look at the statistics, they don’t lie — numbers don’t lie,” Allen said of Diggs in a press conference on Thursday. “But it’s an opportunity for those guys we have in our room, bringing in guys like Curtis [Samuel] and Mack [Hollins] and having Khalil [Shakir] and Dalton [Kincaid] and Dawson [Knox] — guys who have been in the system for a while that know how things go. And within the system, anybody can get the ball at any given time.”
He does also realize that a big part of his early success came from Diggs, which he thanked him for.
“My lasting memory of Stef will be [that he was] the receiver that helped me become the quarterback that I am today,” Allen said. “And I’ll always thank him for that.”
In terms of where the two stand today, Allen said that he sent him a text after hearing that he was traded, thanking him for the influence that he had on his career.
“Yeah, I shared a text with him and got one back, just thanking him for everything that he did for me,” Allen said. “I’ll always have a spot in my heart for him and I’ll always love him like a brother and wish him nothing but the best.”
Now Allen will look to maintain his individual success without both Diggs and Gabe Davis on the team. Meanwhile, Diggs will look to give a boost to a very intriguing Houston Texans offense next year.
