The Buffalo Bills are likely to have several key changes when they take the field at the start of the 2024 season. That position was fairly guaranteed once the Bills traded star wide receiver Stefon Diggs to the Houston Texans.
Source: It’s a one-year deal worth up to $6.25M for La'el Collins and the #Bills.
Collins had at least one more suitor, but chose Buffalo with the hopes of winning a Super Bowl. https://t.co/DOHOhwCrPw
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) April 4, 2024
Diggs had been the primary wideout for the Bills in the last four seasons, and he had the same role with the Minnesota Vikings prior to the 2020 season. As he tries to help the Texans continue their climb after winning the AFC South title in the 2023 season, the Bills have started to make key changes. While it seems likely that they will be adding a wide receiver or two in the upcoming draft, they signed free agent offensive tackle La'el Collins shortly after the Diggs trade was completed.
The 6-7, 320 pound Collins is headed into his eighth season in the NFL. He spent the first six years of his career with the Dallas Cowboys before moving on to the Cincinnati Bengals last season. Collins signed a one-year, $6.25 million deal with the Bills, and he should be able to move into the starting offensive line. He has started 86 games during his previous seven years.
The Bills will likely give Collins an opportunity to man the left tackle position. While this is the most crucial position on an NFL offensive line, it it is somewhat easier to take over this position when the quarterback has as much mobility as Jake Allen. The quarterback will hold onto the football for an extra split second or more, but he is very capable of running out of trouble and creating havoc for the opposing defense when he scrambles to buy time or takes off running downfield.
Diggs has formidable skills, but has some diva tendencies
Diggs has made quite a reputation in the NFL with his ability to catch game-changing passes and turn them into huge plays. The biggest play he has made throughout his NFL career came when he was with the Vikings when he caught the game-winning touchdown pass and run against the New Orleans Saints on the final play of the Wild Card game in the 2017-18 season.
On that play — dubbed “The Minneapolis Miracle — the outstretched Diggs caught a last-second pass on the sidelines and sprinted into the end zone when the Saints were unable to tackle him after he came down with the ball.
Stefon Diggs has been incredibly productive with the ball, catching at least 103 passes in each of his four seasons in upstate New York. He had his best season in 2020 when he caught 127 passes for 1,535 yards and 8 touchdowns.
There has been minimal slippage in his game, and the 30-year-old caught 107-1,183-8 in 2023 for Buffalo.
Curtis Samuel, Justin Shorter and Khalil Shakir are currently listed as the starting receivers for the Bills, and using one of their prominent picks to select a wideout seems likely.
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