For the long-term success of the team, the Stefon Diggs minicamp absence played out in a perfect way for the Buffalo Bills and Josh Allen.
A team who has its sights set on a Super Bowl win does not want to start its season with a key skill position player taking a public stand against the team. At best, an absence means that the team has fewer reps to synchronize its approach for the season. But also, it means internal friction has bubbled over to a point where it's out in the open for the world to see.
And in the NFL, a visible open wound is prone to the sharks in the water. With the AFC getting stronger, the last thing the Buffalo Bills needed was for Stefon Diggs to skip out on mandatory minicamp.
Diggs' frustration with the team appears to be an extension of what we saw from him on the sidelines at the end of the 2022 season, and for it to be unresolved going into 2023 can't be good for the locker room. There is, however, one key upside to Diggs's absence early in the year for both the Bills and Josh Allen.
Bills future might be stronger thanks to Stefon Diggs absence
There's always a silver lining to be found, but it's just about changing your perspective. For the Bills, the upside to Diggs's absence is that Allen had time to build chemistry with his other weapons, which could be an advantage for Buffalo.
When planning for the Bills, Diggs isn't easy to gameplan for per se, but he is an obvious piece of the offensive scheme for Buffalo. He gets plenty of attention from opponents, and as such tends to be smothered in coverage.
So, having other weapons for Allen to rely on is important. Trent Sherfield, who signed a one-year deal with the Bills this offseason, has been building chemistry with Allen all offseason in Diggs's absence.
"I've loved what I've seen from Trent so far; the dude works extremely hard. He's one of the hardest-working guys on the team. Doesn't complain about anything. He's rolling right now," Bills quarterback Josh Allen said, via ESPN.
Comparing Diggs and Sherfield, it's hard not to look at their salaries, too. Sherfield can make up to $1.77 million this year, while Diggs has a $14.9 million cap hit this year.
In the modern era of the NFL with star quarterbacks earning massive salaries, the challenge for general managers is using the limited leftover resources to build a team that can compete. It's a catch-22, because you typically need a star QB to win, but having one also handcuffs you, especially if you don't win a title while they're still on their rookie deal.
With Allen in the midst of a six-year, $258 million contract with Buffalo, team GM Brandon Beane faces that challenge exactly. And looking at teams that have already won it all, the model requires the Bills to find talent in unlikely places if they want to build sustainably.
Look at the Chiefs. Patrick Mahomes is on a similarly large salary, and this past year they won the Super Bowl with rookies — like Isiah Pacheco and Jerrick McKinnon — and outcasts from other teams or players who took lower contracts — like Kadarius Toney, and JuJu Smith-Schuster — allowed the Chiefs to win while spending less.
Buffalo is barreling toward that necessity of finding talent in no-name places too, with Allen's contract limiting what Beane and the Bills can do financially.
Learning to live without stars on big salaries like Diggs may not be the worst thing, and he's pushed Buffalo to have to practice that without him.
