The perception of veteran wide receiver Stefon Diggs has been that he's problematic and a diva over the course of his 11-year NFL career. But, since he's been with the New England Patriots, Diggs has been both a leader and a mentor for his teammates this season.
Although Diggs grew a reputation for having a poor attitude with his previous teams, he was always able to talk the talk and walk the walk as he was the best receiver in the league for a period of time, totaling over 1,000 receiving yards in six consecutive years from 2018-23 and scored 52 touchdowns in that time.
After years of ups and downs, earning him a less-than-stellar reputation for his attitude as a teammate, Diggs seems to be turning a corner. His on-field impact for the Patriots has been obvious, but he's also showing a new side off the field, taking rookie TreVeyon Henderson under his wing.
Diggs' Rollercoaster Career
- 2015-2019: 4,623 yards, 30 touchdowns in 70 games the Vikings — Traded
- 2020-2023: 5,372 yards, 37 touchdowns in 66 games with the Bills — Traded
- 2024: 496 yards. 3 touchdowns in 8 games with the Texans — Walks in free agency
Diggs spent the first five years of his career with the Minnesota Vikings after they drafted him in the fifth round in 2015. In that time, he was evolving into a prominent and consistent receiver, collecting 365 receptions on 534 targets.
At this point, Diggs was just entering his prime years and became a superstar by the time he was 25 years old. It’s fair to say that he outgrew the Vikings as they were transitioning from a pass-heavy approach to more of a run-based offense.
Diggs enjoyed getting the ball in his hands as often as possible, but it was only leading to his own success and not the success of the team, which is how the negative perception of him began in the first place. At this point, he started to skip team meetings, arrive late to practices, and rack up $200,000 worth of fines from the Vikings.
Although Diggs was ascending towards the top of the league in his position, he wasn't mature enough at that time to handle the situation professionally, which had a negative impact on the team and also made him look like a bad teammate.
Diggs eventually got what he wanted, a trade out of Minnesota in 2020. He landed with the Buffalo Bills and quarterback Josh Allen. In his first year with the Bills, Diggs led the NFL in targets (166), receptions (127), and receiving yards (1,535) and established himself as the top wide receiver in the NFL.
After four years with Buffalo, Diggs found himself feeling similarly to how he felt at the end of his time with Minnesota. He started voicing his frustrations in an unprofessional manner and eventually wanted to be traded from the Bills. With history seeming to repeat itself with Diggs, his reputation of being a bad teammate and acting unprofessionally continued to grow.
'Bad Teammate' Reputation
In 2021, Diggs addressed the speculation that he's a bad teammate, saying that he could have handled things differently and admitting that he did become a bad teammate at the end of his tenure with Minnesota. and the same can be said for the ending with Buffalo.
"Coming from my old team, up to me wanting to leave and go to another place, I was a good teammate. It wasn't until I wanted to do something else is when I became a bad teammate. So, as far as when things are going good, it's all good until it's not good."
When Diggs was traded for the second time in his career in 2024, going from Buffalo to Houston, he was a different person than he's shown to be in his career. He was more mature and professional, and it reshaped his image at 31 years old and in his tenth year in the NFL. He received constant praise for his leadership towards younger players and was able to create quick chemistry with quarterback C.J. Stroud, connecting for 47 receptions in only eight games.
It's worth mentioning that Diggs having to deal with an ACL tear last year could have opened a new perspective for him on the remaining years of his playing career.
Now with the Patriots, as a more mature and willing professional, Diggs has been an important resource for second-year quarterback Drake Maye and for a young receiving corps that has relied on him to be the wily veteran that he is in the league. Diggs has over seven years more NFL experience than any other Patriots receiver except Mack Hollins.
Furthermore on Diggs’ maturity this season, he addressed a situation during a press conference back in September on a comment made by NBC Sports Boston’s Phil Perry prior to the start of the season when he referred to Diggs a possible “pain in the posterior” for head coach Mike Vrabel. It was a bit awkward as Diggs did this to open his press conference, to which he called out Perry and Tom E. Curran, who then proceeded to apologize for the comment.
“I was referred to as a pain in the ass… pain in the posterior, but I’m going to say exactly what it really is. Obviously I don’t want to come across as that and I’ll say this: I want to be very clear that I’m an adult. I apologize, and I’m not up here to ego trip. I’m not up here to rub anybody the wrong way or say anything for clickbait. If I rubbed anybody the wrong way, I really want to apologize. Moving forward, obviously we have a media-to-player relationship, as professional as I can be, I want to make myself available each and every week.”
Taking TreVeyon Henderson Under His Wing
Diggs doesn't just focus his leadership on the receivers because he is one. He is actually in the ear of rookie running back TreVeyon Henderson because Diggs sees the potential in Henderson that can elevate the team to a whole new level. He says that he can see Henderson stepping up and that he is proud of him.
"I'm proud of him. Just like Kyle [Williams], one of those young players stepping up, stepping into a role. He's finally scoring touchdowns, finally running away from guys. I'm definitely hard on TreVeyon just because I see so much potential and one guy tackling you and stuff like that- I've been around some great backs in my career and those great backs don't get tackled, I want to see you score."
As Diggs said, he's been teammates with some true beasts of running backs during his career, including Adrian Peterson, Dalvin Cook, Latavius Murray, Devin Singletary, James Cook, and Joe Mixon. Diggs sees Henderson having the same trajectory as some of the great running backs that he's shared the field with during his career.
In Week 10, against an impressive defense with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Henderson showed exactly what Diggs is talking about by having two explosive runs of 55 and 69 yards and scoring on both.
The rookie followed that performance in Week 11, handling the work in the backfield for the Patriots with 19 carries for 62 yards and 2 touchdowns on the ground while also adding 5 catches for 31 yards and a score as a receiver.
It’s great to see Diggs compose himself in New England as the respected veteran that the rest of the team recognizes him as. His leadership has been invaluable for the Patriots this season.