Source: Texans adjust Stefon Diggs’ deal after trade, eliminate final three years, due $22.5 million guaranteed in 2024

HOUSTON – The Texans in the wake of trading with the Buffalo Bills for Stefon Diggs, have made a major adjustment to the four-time Pro Bowl wide receiver’s contract.

When the Texans acquired Diggs in exchange for a 2025 second-round draft pick while adding a 2025 fifth-round selection and a 2024 sixth-round selection from the Bills, they eliminated the final three years of his original four-year, $96 million extension, per a league source. The Texans have now shifted $3.515 million guaranteed that Diggs was due in 2025 to 2024 and made this a one-year guaranteed $22.5 million contract that includes a $250,000 workout bonus and a $15,000 per game active roster bonus, up to $255,000.

Diggs receives a $20.895 million signing bonus, His $1.21 million base salary is fully guaranteed for skill, injury and salary cap. And 2025, 2026, 2027 and 2028 are voidable years with $30 million base salaries annually for salary-cap accounting purposes. His salary-cap figure for 2024 is just $5.867 million due to this renegotiated contract.

Diggs is represented by veteran agent Adisa Bakari.

The Texans, in an all-in mode after this blockbuster trade and a spending spree that includes a two-year, $51 million deal for Pro Bowl defensive end Danielle Hunter, have made this a one-year arrangement with Diggs, for now. Nothing precludes them from doing a new deal with Diggs, if things go smoothly, or moving on after one year should he leave in free agency. They have this year to build a relationship.

The trade became official Thursday with Diggs arriving in Houston, passing his physical and being assigned a locker, which he posted on Instagram.

“What’s up Htown,Stefon Diggs here,” Diggs said in a video posted by the team from inside the locker room. “I’m excited to get going, excited to get to work. Let’s go.”

Diggs got the No. 1 jersey after paying $100,000 to safety and team captain Jimmie Ward, per a league source, as Ward switched to No. 20, his number with the San Francisco 49ers.

Diggs, 30, caught 107 passes for 1,183 yards and eight touchdowns last season for the Bills.

Now, Diggs will be catching passes from Texans Pro Bowl quarterback C.J. Stroud, last year’s NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, and working in tandem with Nico Collins and Tank Dell.

Diggs was in Houston earlier this offseason and playing with Stroud in Travis Scott’s charity softball game at Minute Maid Park. Now, he’ll be catching passes from Stroud at NRG Stadium this fall.

“I can’t begin to express the amount of love and respect I have for the city of Buffalo ♥️💙,” Diggs wrote on Instagram. “Four of the best years of my life, the city welcomed me with open arms. I’m forever grateful for you all and the @buffalobills organization! Something special was built over these years with some very special men, that will always have a place in my heart. Billsmafia, so many great memories created throughout the years. Those games were crazy because of you. Sadly good things come to an end until we meet again.”

In a social media reply to Diggs, Texans running back Joe Mixon wrote: ‘Just a few weeks ago you asked and We delivered Now let’s go get these ‘s #H-TownTakeover.”

Diggs has caught 810 career passes for 9,995 yards and 67 touchdowns on 1,177 targets. His unhappiness with the Bills wasn’t a secret. The Bills now take on a dead salary cap hit of $31.06 million to trade the veteran wide receiver.

During the season last year, Diggs addressed reports of his discontent in Buffalo following a mandatory minicamp excused absence with coach Sean McDermott initially saying he was concerned before then saying it was resolved.

“I’ve never really said anything about being unhappy or any instance of that,” Diggs said in November. “So, when you’re drawing conclusions as to stuff I’ve never said, that’s what kind of troubles me because it kind of throws a wrench in it. It kind of creates chaos where I haven’t created.

“Chaos created around me, whereas I just been in the same space, I’ve been in the same place, and I’ve spoken true words. I’ve said the same thing over and over and over. So, when you draw a conclusion as to how I feel in my foreseeable future here, I’ve never said anything, but I was a Buffalo Bill. I gave it everything I got. I’m a professional and I treat this game as such.”

The Texans had roughly $30 million before the trade after restructuring the contracts of offensive linemen Tytus Howard and Shaq Mason to create a combined $16.7 million in cap space.

In his first season with the Bills after being traded from the Minnesota Vikings, Diggs caught 127 passes for 1,535 yards from star quarterback Josh Allen. Diggs had 5,372 yards and 37 touchdowns during his time in Buffalo.

Texans general manager Nick Caserio, who engineered the trade with Bills general manager Brandon Beane, once threw a series of crisp passes to Diggs at his campus Pro Day workout at the University of Maryland during a windy, overcast day when there wasn’t a quarterback available to work with the receivers. Then a New England Patriots executive evaluating the draft prospects that day with now-former Patriots coach Bill Belichick, Caserio has now acquired Diggs this spring.

The Texans’ roster is loaded and they are emerging as a trendy Super Bowl contender, perhaps built to challenge for the AFC championship with other top teams, including the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs, Baltimore Ravens and Bills.

“You want high expectations,” Texans foundation vice president Hannah McNair said during the NFL owners meetings. " “You don’t want to go into something going, ‘I hope we just make the playoffs. I hope we get a winning season.’ You always want the expectations to be high. I think the fact that we’re in those conversations is a testament to the decisions that have been made over the last couple of years.”

So far this offseason, the Texans have:

Traded for Diggs after previously trying to trade for Keenan Allen as they offered a 2025 third-round pick and a pick swap to the Los Angeles Chargers as they dealt Allen to the Chicago Bears.

Traded for Pro Bowl running back Joe Mixon, and signed him to a three-year, $27 million extension.

Signed Pro Bowl defensive end and Morton Ranch graduate Danielle Hunter to a two-year, $51 million deal with $49 million fully guaranteed.

Re-signed tight end Dalton Schultz to a three-year, $36 million deal.

Signed linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair to a three-year, $34 million deal.

Signed defensive end Denico Autry to a two-year, $20 million deal.

And the Texans re-signed kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn to three-year, $15.9 million deal.

They also retained highly regarded offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik and quarterbacks coach Jerrod Johnson with upgraded contracts after they interviewed for multiple NFL vacancies.

“We only want to win the next game,” Texans principal owner Cal McNair said. “We’re going to work hard, on and off the field, to do that and really put a great team on the field and have a bunch of leaders at every position and go out and play together and have fun doing it and go win.”

Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com