For much of the past week, there has been hand-wringing and pearl-clutching all around the Patriots and their star wide receiver Stefon Diggs, who was signed to a three-year, $63.5 million contract in the offseason as New England attempts to bolster an offense that floundered for nearly all of last year.
First there was a video that emerged of Diggs on a boat over Memorial Day weekend. He was featured talking with a small group of women on the boat, which is of no consequence in itself. But when Diggs appeared to reach down and pull out a plastic bag filled with some sort of substance, well, that’s where speculation went into overdrive.
At last week’s OTAs, Diggs was not present.
Said coach Mike Vrabel: “It’s something that we’re aware of. Obviously, we want to make great decisions on and off the field. We’re hoping that with our time here on the field today, that when we don’t have a script and we’re on the call periods, that we’re making great decisions. The message will be the same for all our players, that we’re trying to make great decisions. Any conversations that I’ve had with Stefon will remain between him, I and the club.”
Patriots Counting on Stefon Diggs to Be WR1
In the aftermath of that, there was speculation that perhaps Diggs would be cut before he ever caught a pass for New England. But on Monday, Patriots OTAs opened up once again, and a video emerged of Diggs jauntily arriving for practice.
From a video shared by ESPN’s Mike Reiss, Diggs strode onto the field wearing his jersey and helmet and shouted to reporters, “Nice to see you all!” He then jogged onto the field.
Diggs enters the 2025 season as the Patriots’ best bet to be the WR1 for a team that has not had a legitimate top target at the position in years. Diggs had six straight 1,000-yard receiving seasons in Buffalo and Minnesota before going to Houston last season. Diggs suffered a torn ACL last October, though.
Whether he can rehab quickly enough to be ready for Week 1 is one of the major questions of Patriots camp this summer — or at least was the major question, before the pink-bag video showed up. After that, the question became whether the Patriots would keep Diggs at all, or would cut him before the start of the season.
For now, at least, we have an answer.
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