What to make of these Stefon Diggs-to-Patriots rumors

With buzz growing about a potential trade that would send Stefon Diggs to the New England Patriots, how exactly could such a transaction happen?

The NFL is a crazy business.

Only in professional football can you find a situation where a 26-year-old superstar wide receiver is entering the third year of a five-year, $72 million contract extension with a franchise that has made the playoffs in three consecutive seasons — and that players is the subject of major trade rumors.

Such is the case with Stefon Diggs of the Minnesota Vikings. Diggs reportedly deleted all of his Vikings-related social media content over the past couple days, setting off a firestorm on — where else? — social media regarding what it could possibly mean.

The situation is complicated by the fact that Diggs has been quite open about his frustration with the Vikings. Despite the fact that he re-signed with the team back in 2018 on a lucrative extension, he’s made it clear time and time again that he doesn’t really appreciate playing in Minnesota for whatever reason.

It’s strange, because he’s still very well-paid, he’s certainly appreciated as one of the top two receivers on the team (and one of the top receivers in the league), he has an excellent supporting cast around him in his quarterback, coaches, and running back — not to mention a terrific defense.

All of this, and he made it known he wanted to play elsewhere just as recently as this time last year.

Naturally, one of the major players in the persistent rumors surrounding Diggs’ dissatisfaction with the Vikings is the New England Patriots. The Pats seem to always lack a prototypical No. 1 receiver — the kind of outside threat that other franchises have in Julio Jones, A.J. Green, DeAndre Hopkins, and Diggs himself.

None of this is meant to disparage Julian Edelman, who is a terrific No. 1 receiver in his own right. But Edelman is best used as an underneath weapon who can break ankles and hearts with his exceptional route-running. He’s more move-the-chains than score-the-touchdown, and he always has been.

The Pats and have swung and struck out on a number of outside receivers over the years, including Josh Gordon most recently. Even their successes — Brandin Cooks, Randy Moss, Brandon Lloyd, Malcolm Mitchell, etc. — were short-lived. All of those guys played phenomenally for the Patriots, but none of them played for very long for the Patriots.

Could Stefon Diggs be the guy to change all that? New England needs someone other than Phillip Dorsett or Mohamed Sanu who can open up the offense further in 2020. Diggs would no doubt add an element of speed, route-running savvy, and home run threat capability to this offense in a flash.

Now it’s just a matter of whether or not the Patriots could afford to dangle a package towards the Vikings that might entice them to part ways with Diggs. If you’re Minnesota, you’re not really inclined to part ways with such a productive receiver who’s still just barely entering his prime — unless you think he’s not going to be around much longer anyway, or he makes it clear he’s going to demand a trade or sit out (a la Le’Veon Bell and Antonio Brown in recent years).

USA Today’s Jack White of VikingsWire recently shared a local Minnesota radio station’s suggestion that the Pats trade Sanu and two 2020 draft picks (first round and third round) to the Vikes in exchange for Diggs.

While most of the internet laughed at the notion — Sanu was far from impressive in his 2019 debut for New England — many others considered the truth of it all: if Diggs is that unhappy and unwilling to contribute to the Vikings anyway, maybe getting two higher draft picks back for him plus a serviceable receiver on the cheap might be worth it.

This is all just speculation still, obviously. Diggs deleting his team photos from his social media doesn’t mean that he’s not going to play for Minnesota in 2020. It doesn’t even mean that he’s necessarily unhappy.

Still, this will be a situation to monitor as we get closer and closer to free agency, the draft, and the start of the new season. Stay tuned, Patriots fans.