There is zero debate about whether Stefon Diggs is one of the top wide receivers in the NFL. It’s getting close to the time for the Buffalo Bills to pay him like one.
Currently, Diggs’ $14.4 million per year average puts him 20th among all receivers. The Bills star is making less per year than Robby Anderson ($14.75 million) for heaven’s sake. A pay bump is overdue for the Pro Bowl wideout, who has surpassed 1,200 yards in each of his two seasons in Buffalo.
Joining WGR 550 on Tuesday, general manager Brandon Beane said the club has yet to start those conversations.
“We’ll look at everything,” he said. “Definitely guys that have higher cap numbers like that you look at everything, whether it’s restructuring it, adding years. We’ll look at everything. You can definitely know we will look at Stef’s contract at some point and see if there is something that makes sense for both sides. But we haven’t begun any conversations with him at this point.”
The Bills have work to do to get under the $208.2 million salary cap ahead of the new league year opening next week. Beane estimated Buffalo is currently more than $6 million over the cap.
Diggs currently has a salary cap number of $17.917 million in 2022 and $18.05 million in 2023 (highest on the team) with base salaries of just over $12.5 million each of the next two years. A contract extension for the star wideout could help lower that cap figure in the immediate future while aligning Diggs’ pay with his production.
Unless Beane is fibbing, he’ll dip into that option on Diggs down the road as opposed to using a new contract as his main lever for getting under the salary cap in the immediate future.
As for fellow wide receiver Cole Beasley, whom the Bills granted permission to seek a trade, Beane reiterated the same line he told NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo last week: Buffalo isn’t ruling out any option with the veteran receiver, from a trade to a return.
“We listened, had conversations internally and ultimately said we’d allow Cole to seek that if he found a partner,” he said. “We didn’t close any doors. That’s where it’s at. I don’t want to get into conversations on where that stands. A lot of respect for Cole and his family and what they’ve done for the organization the last three years. We’ll let that play out. The story is still kind of open-ended right now.”