A vexing start to the season for the Minnesota Vikings' offense has led to some angst from one of its best players.
NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reports that receiver Stefon Diggs' frustrations with the organization have been palpable, leading some teammates to wonder if he wants to be there, per sources informed of the situation.
Per Rapoport, despite Diggs' frustration, the team is adamant he's not available for a trade, barring a massive offer.
Diggs was not at practice Wednesday for what the team termed non-injury reasons. Diggs was full participant at practice on Thursday and spoke with reporters about a myriad of topics.
Diggs said that he was absent Wendesday because he wasn't feeling well. When asked about the reports that he wants out of Minnesota, he said, "There's truth to all rumors. I won't be speaking on that."
Diggs also was asked point blank if he wanted to be dealt.
"I said there's truth to all rumors," Diggs said. "What I mean by that ... there's a lot of speculation of me being frustrated. Of course being a receiver and wanting to have success and wanting to win. If you're not winning of course you'll be frustrated. That's my answer."
When asked about Diggs' prospects of playing on Sunday, coach Mike Zimmer was non-committal.
"We'll have to see," Zimmer said, via ESPN.
Speculation about Diggs being traded has swirled recently as the Vikings receiver was seen visibly frustrated on the sideline during Sunday's loss in Chicago, per multiple beat reporters at the game.
The 25-year-old receiver signed a five-year, $72 million extension with Minnesota last offseason. He has a base salary of $8.9 million in 2019, and north of $10 million each of the next four years.
With the Vikings preferring a ground-and-pound approach, the receiver corps in Minnesota has been frustrated with the pass-game through four weeks. Behind an offensive line that is woefully struggling to block, quarterback Kirk Cousins has been a check-down machine, eschewing deep shots to Diggs and Adam Thielen for repeated dump-offs.
Following Sunday's loss, Thielen voiced frustration, noting when teams stop the run, the Vikings "have to be able to hit the deep balls." Thus far, Cousins has come up short.
Diggs put up 108 yards on seven catches in Week 4 versus the Bears, but much of those yards were hollow stats. His second-quarter fumble also did the offense no favors. In the first three games of the season, Diggs was held under 50 yards receiving in each tilt and scored just one TD.
"The space that we're in right now definitely is a lot of questions," Diggs said when asked if he is upset with the Vikings' offense this season, per the St. Paul Pioneer Press. "I can't sit up here and act like everything is OK because obviously it's not but I can say at this point I'm just trying to work through it."
Last season, Diggs enjoyed 9.9 targets and 6.8 receptions per game, those numbers have dipped to 4.8 targets and 3.3 receptions through four weeks in 2019.
The struggles of the passing game in Minnesota have led to Diggs' frustration, but the Vikings (2-2) do not yet have plans to jettison the star receiver. Of course, few expected Minnesota to trade Percy Harvin to Seattle back in 2013. With the trade deadline coming up on Oct. 29, stay tuned, just in case the Vikings get an offer they can't refuse.
