Stefon Diggs is a No-Show at the Bills Mandatory Mini Camp and Sean McDermott is 'Very Concerned'
This may just be my AFC East bias showing. And if the great vengeance and furious anger directed at me from Bills Mafia ever since the end of the season when I suggested the dynasty they've been predicting could be over before it began:
… is any indication, I might be less than objective on this one.
Which is fine. I'll cop a plea to that. But was hard to watch the Bills get smoked at home in the playoffs, with a virtual road takeover of Orchard Park by Bengals fans:
And to watch their best players form a circular firing squad after a non-competitive effort and come to any other conclusion:
In the NFL, winning is hard. It's about so much more than just athletic talent. It takes all those cornball things your super earnest youth sports coach used to preach while you were rolling your eyes at what an idiot he was. Teamwork. Togetherness. Dedication. Spirit. Determination. Selflessness. Hard work. It requires it more than any other sport. And when you don't have those indefinable but necessary qualities, it will all go south in a hurry.
To be fair, nobody who's not in the Buffalo locker room can say for sure they're lacking those things. But when your star wideout is doing broad stage gestures in the face of an already dejected star quarterback, both of them knowing full well the video is going to go viral, well that's what the political consultants like to call bad optics. No matter how hard Tony Romo tries to spin it as Stefon Diggs just being "emotional" and him and Josh Allen "love" each other.
So those Bills Mafia people who trashed me like a Metal band's hotel room will have to forgive me if I took that performance by the Bills and that interaction between Diggs and Allen as a sign of much, much deeper problems. And all I ask is that they stop me when I say something that isn't true:
Source - The Buffalo Bills start the final phase of their offseason program Tuesday, a three-day mini camp in which all players are required to be in attendance, and all eyes will be on whether wide receiver Stefon Diggs shows up.
Well, the answer came Tuesday morning when coach Sean McDermott announced that Diggs is not at the facility, and admitted that he’s “very concerned” about the situation.
It was clear that McDermott is not happy about what is happening with Diggs, but he would got get into it any further, saying that he’s concentrating on practicing with the players who are in attendance, which would be every other player on the roster.
For the first time since Diggs joined the team in a 2020 trade from Minnesota, he skipped the entire offseason program … and it raised speculation about whether he’s unhappy with the team.
The fact that he’s not in town Tuesday is really rather shocking and now, it surely means that he’s not happy with his contract even though he is still the fifth-highest paid wide receiver in the NFL in terms of average per season.
He is due to make $24.415 million in 2023. … Given his dead cap hit, it is virtually impossible for the Bills to trade him, so it’s really puzzling what Diggs is doing here because he will not be able to force his way out of Buffalo. …
Some of Diggs’ social media activity since the playoff loss to the Bengals seemed to hint at some dissatisfaction with the Bills and their inability to get over the hump and get to the Super Bowl.
Ruh-roh.
Look, maybe this isn't a sign that Allen's most essential target is disgruntled. Maybe he's perfectly gruntled. Just because we're already into mid-June and he hasn't participated in a single, solitary part of their 2023 offseason program is no reason to just assume he's miserable and frustrated and wants out. I'm sure a lot of guys who are among the Top 5 highest paid at their position in the league, have contracts that make them unmovable, have ghosted their coaches and teammates and have been venting their frustration on the socials all year are perfectly content. And in exactly the right head space to get back in their practice gear and do whatever it takes to get over the AFC hump. Just because you leave your head coach dumbfounded on the first day of mandatory workouts is no reason for anyone to think otherwise, amirite?
Of course, if I'm going to be all Patriots-centric in this, I should also point out that Bill Belichick is dealing with a no-show as well. DT Lawrence Guy. And you can see how "very concerned" he is about missing his 22nd highest graded run defender (according to Pro Football Focus) coming off a down season at the age of 33:
So every coach has issues to deal with at this time of year. It's just hard not to worry that the Bills are in real trouble since about 1/3 of their receiving yards and receiving touchdowns from 2022 are nowhere to be seen in 2023. It'd be a real shame if Diggs decides never to show up at all. A real, real shame.