Stefon Diggs Says He Will Not Return In Mafia Again” Till Coach Sean McDermott Will Leave The Team…

Each NFL team’s offseason is filled with small moves and marginal personnel decisions. Sometimes, that series of small moves will build a winner. But a big, bold move — like a trade or a high draft pick — can dramatically improve talent at an important position or change the overall direction of the franchise.

Below, I suggest a bold move for each team to make this offseason. Some of these are realistic and others are more far-fetched, but each would provide a significant change. What should the Bears do with Justin Fields? And which teams should trade for Fields? Which teams should trade their high draft pick for more picks and players? Where should the top free agents sign? Who should fire their head coach? All of these and more are included.

Moves are suggested for each team independently of the moves suggested for other teams, which is why you might see certain players suggested as trade or free agency targets for multiple franchises.

And as always, I use my DVOA (defense-adjusted value over average) metric, which takes every play during the season and compares it to a baseline adjusted for situation and opponent. It is explained further here.

Diggs’ arrival in Buffalo in 2020 was a big reason Josh Allen took the leap and became an elite NFL quarterback. It was important for him to have a No. 1 receiver to work with. But at age 30, there are questions about whether Diggs is still that kind of No. 1 receiver.

Diggs’ 2023 production declined from an average of 89 to 70 yards per game. In advanced stats, he dropped from third to 45th in receiving DVOA among qualified receivers (50 or more targets). Particularly notable was a drop in the average depth of target from 11.2 yards to 10.3 yards. He was still drawing targets like a No. 1 receiver, but he was getting them on shorter routes and doing less with them.

An even bigger warning sign might be his decline in the second half of the season. In Weeks 1-9, Diggs had 14% DVOA with a 72% catch rate and an average depth of target of 11.3 yards. From Week 10 onward, Diggs had minus-21% DVOA with a 59% catch rate but an average depth of target of just 9.7 yards. Usually, shorter passes mean a higher catch rate. Not in Diggs’ case and not since the start of November.

The question is what the Bills can get for Diggs. He’s probably not going to garner a first-round pick. Teams know his age and that he’s in decline. There has never been a receiver who went from over 1,400 yards to under 1,200 yards and back to over 1,400 yards at age 30 or older. The closest was Reggie Wayne in 2010-2012, who went 1,355 to 960 to 1,355 again at the age of 34.

The Bills would have to trade Diggs after June 1 or else he will cost them more on the salary cap. A post-June 1 trade would save them $19 million on the salary cap with $8.8 million in dead money.

A kicker as a bold move? Hear me out. Sanders is one of the top 10 kickers in the league in terms of average salary per year. His 2020 All-Pro season stands out, but he has has hit only 80% of his field goals in the three seasons since. The Dolphins are about $52 million over the cap, and they need cut candidates to whittle that down. That means going past the obvious cuts such as Emmanuel Ogbah and Jerome Baker.

A post-June 1 cut of Sanders would save $3.8 million on the cap with just under $750,000 in dead money. Then the Dolphins can find a kicker near the end of the draft or even on the college free agent market who would command a much smaller contract.

The obvious move for the Patriots is to draft a young quarterback, such as Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels (LSU), with the No. 3 overall pick. Analytically, that’s the right move. But it’s not the boldest move. The boldest move would be to draft the surer thing, the Ohio State receiver, and combine him with a veteran caretaker quarterback available in free agency and then gamble on a lower-round passer.

The perfect caretaker veteran quarterback? Jacoby Brissett — who was a Patriots third-round draft pick back in 2016. Brissett has made a career of surprisingly reasonable performances, with his best year coming with the 2022 Browns. And who was offensive coordinator of those Browns? None other than new Patriots coordinator Alex Van Pelt!

With Brissett throwing to Harrison, the Patriots can then use a lower-round pick on a passer to develop behind Brissett. Michael Penix Jr. (Washington) might be an option in the second round, or Spencer Rattler (South Carolina) in the third or fourth round.