The eventual deal that was accepted wasn’t the first offer the Buffalo Bills made to the Minnesota Vikings to acquire Stefon Diggs.
Stefon Diggs forcing his way out of the Twin Cities last year is something Minnesota Vikings fans will never forget. Luckily, the Vikings were able to replace Diggs with Justin Jefferson, so the veteran receiver’s departure didn’t end up being as depressing as some had initially envisioned.
Minnesota really wasn’t looking to trade Diggs, despite his displeasure with his role in the team’s offense. But the Buffalo Bills presented the Vikings with an enticing offer and they did what they felt was best for the future of the franchise.
Apparently, Diggs was someone the Bills had attempted to acquire a few months before he eventually landed on their roster.
Buffalo Bills sent midseason trade offer to Minnesota Vikings for Stefon Diggs in 2019
During a recent episode of the “The Cris Collinsworth Podcast featuring Richard Sherman,” current Buffalo general manager Brandon Beane revealed that his team first tried to acquire Diggs from Minnesota before the trade deadline in 2019.
"“Going into [2019], we had added Cole Beasley and John Brown and we had some early success. But I felt like people were starting to figure out how to play us a little bit and we still needed another weapon for Josh [Allen] to throw to.So we looked at some receivers and the [San Francisco] 49ers got one of them, Emmanuel Sanders from [the Denver Broncos]. We were [also] looking at Diggs in Minnesota, Mohamed Sanu, and maybe a couple of others, but none of them worked out for whatever reason. Either we didn’t offer enough or they wanted to trade to an NFC team like Denver did with [Sanders] to the 49ers.”"
After failing to acquire him in the middle of the 2019 season, Beane shared that the Bills continued to check in with the Vikings to see if Diggs was available.
Minnesota kept the same tune about the receiver not being on the trade block until a tweet was sent out last March by Diggs that seemed to announce his desire to play elsewhere. It was at that time, Beane said, that the Vikings were more willing to consider a deal involving the talented receiver if they felt the compensation was fair.
In the end, Minnesota eventually agreed to trade Diggs to Buffalo in exchange for three 2020 draft picks, including the Bills’ first-round selection, and a fourth-round pick in 2021.
As we know, the Vikings used the first-round selection they acquired from Buffalo to pick Jefferson. Diggs went on to lead the NFL in receiving yards and catches in 2020, while Jefferson set the new rookie record for receiving yards in a single season.
4 players who almost signed with the Vikings in free agency
Who are some of the players the Minnesota Vikings pursued in free agency in the recent past that went on to sign with a different team?
In a rare instance, it’s a trade that actually ended up working out great for both the Bills and the Vikings.