The Stefon Diggs trade rocked the NFL world, but it didn’t exactly shock anyone paying attention to the wide receiver’s X/Twitter account the last few weeks. The former Buffalo Bills wideout has been sending out cryptic tweets for almost a month now, and many guessed a trade was imminent. New Houston Texans running back Joe Mixon thought so back on March 15, and now he’s fired up to team with the All-Pro pass-catcher.
On Wednesday, after news of the Stefon Diggs trade broke, Mixon retweeted an eyes emoji tweet he sent out on March 15 in response to Diggs’ now-infamous “Ready for watever [sic]” post.
“@stefondiggs just a few weeks ago you asked and We delivered [prayer hands emoji] Now let’s go get these [ring emoji]’s [fire emoji] #H-TownTakeover,” Mixon wrote.
This deal was a fascinating one on both sides. For the Bills, it seems like an addition-by-subtraction move, as general manager Brandon Beane got a relatively small return for the 30-year-old WR and took a $31.1 million dead cap hit for 2024 in the process.
Buffalo got a 2025 second-round pick in return for Diggs, a 2024 sixth-round pick (No. 189 overall), and a 2025 fifth-round pick. Giving up two Day 3 selections for a Day 2 pick next year is a far stretch from what the Bills gave up to acquire him from the Minnesota Vikings back in 2020.
In that Stefon Diggs trade, the Bills got the WR and a 2020 seventh-round pick for a 2020 first-round pick (No. 22 overall), a 2020 fifth-round pick, a 2020 sixth-round pick, and a 2021 fourth-round pick.
Maybe most importantly, the Bills gave away Diggs for next-to-nothing to an up-and-coming AFC rival who Buffalo could see in the playoffs. And after this trade, the Texans seem more likely to make it to that point than the Bills do with the offseason additions they’ve had.
Stefon Diggs joins Joe Mixon in the new and improved Texans offense
In April 2023, ahead of the NFL draft, Ohio State quarterback CJ Stroud seemed like the questionable consolation prize the Texans got after losing out on the No. 1 pick and the ability to draft Alabama QB Bryce Young.
Fast forward to a year later, and reigning Offensive Rookie of the Year and playoff-winning signal-caller Stroud is second to no one. He is the most promising young signal-caller in the league right now, and the Texans are going all in to support him.
The team added RB Joe Mixon in free agency to go with promising young back Damien Pierce. Then, this trade adds Diggs to a deep, young WR corps with veteran Robert Woods and Noah Brown and youngsters Nico Collins, Tank Dell, and John Metchie. Tight end Dalton Schultz is still in the mix as well.
Now, Houston can go in almost any direction with their two second-round picks to start the 2024 NFL Draft. The team could dip into the deep WR class and add even more firepower to support Stroud, or they could add even more to the defensive side of the ball, which would surely make former Texans linebacker and second-year head coach DeMeco Ryans happy.
However, there aren’t a ton of huge needs on that side of the ball, either. In free agency, the team signed pass rusher Danielle Hunter, linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair, defensive lineman Denico Autry, and cornerback Jeff Okudah to address its problem spots.
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