Prior to signing wide receiver Stefon Diggs to a three-year, $69 million contract back in March, the New England Patriots explored adding several other pass catchers to pair with second-year quarterback Drake Maye.
At the time, the decision to bring Diggs aboard was deemed one of the NFL offseason's "riskiest moves" by Bleacher Report's Kristopher Knox, as the 4x Pro Bowler was coming off an ACL tear suffered 8 games into the 2024 campaign and entering his age 32 season.
Other names that were reportedly on New England's radar this past spring included Chris Godwin of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Deebo Samuel Sr. of the San Francisco 49ers, and Tee Higgins of the Cincinnati Bengals.
Ultimately, though, the Buccaneers re-signed Godwin, the 49ers dealt Samuel to the Washington Commanders, and the Bengals franchise-tagged Higgins, leaving the Patriots to turn their attention to Diggs.
The Patriots made the right decision to sign Stefon Diggs despite the concerns about his injury
Diggs has since proceeded to defy the expectations of many with New England so far this year, posting 76 catches for 869 yards and three touchdowns through 15 games, while becoming the team's most productive wideout in terms of receiving yardage since Julian Edelman in 2019.
After putting up one of his best performances of the season to date on Sunday Night Football against the Baltimore Ravens, hauling in nine grabs for 138 yards, Diggs acknowledged to MassLive's Mark Daniels he knew the Patriots had other names in mind before they inked him to a deal.
"“Yeah, they were thinking about signing those other guys, and I know all those other guys they were thinking about signing.”"Stefon Diggs
With Diggs' solid performance this year, having already helped New England clinch the franchise's first postseason berth since 2021, let's take a look at how some of the other players the Patriots were initially connected to have fared by comparison.
The Patriots were ready to go all-in on making Chris Godwin their next WR1
Godwin didn't just choose to remain in Tampa Bay rather than sign with New England; he also reportedly took a smaller contract to do so.
The 2019 Pro Bowler turned down what his agent Tory Dandy described as "generational money" from the Patriots, who offered a deal worth $30 million per year, according to Dan Pompei of The Athletic. Godwin chose to leave that cash on the table and return to the Buccaneers on a three-year, $66 million deal that averages $22 million per year.
""If I ended up going to New England, it would have been solely based off money because everything else was telling me to stay here.""Chris Godwin
In 2024, Godwin was one of the NFL's best pass catchers when on the field, leading the league in catches (50) and ranking second in receiving yards (576) before suffering a dislocated ankle in Week 7, which caused him to miss the remainder of the season.
Despite the injury, New England still felt highly enough about Godwin to offer him a big contract, but failing to sign him in free agency appears to have been a blessing in disguise for the team all along.
Additional injuries this season have limited Godwin to just seven games, during which he has totaled 25 catches for 256 yards and one score. Tampa Bay still has two games remaining for Godwin to improve on those numbers a bit, but they would all be career lows if the season ended today.
To further put this production downturn in perspective, Godwin has suited up for the same number of contests as last season, but has recorded half as many receptions, more than 55% fewer yards, and four fewer touchdowns.
Deebo Samuel Jr. had been connected to New England for years, but they're lucky to have still passed
Before the 49ers traded Samuel to the Commanders in exchange for a 2025 fifth-round pick in March, the Patriots had been linked to him as a potential trade suitor.
While MassLive's Mark Daniels reported after the deal went down that the Patriots "weren't in" on Samuel, adding a player to the roster with his dynamic abilities as both a pass-catcher and ball-carrier (especially before the drafting of TreVeyon Henderson) was seen as a possible fit for a team that needed help in both categories at the time.
In his first season with Washington, through Week 16, the 2021 All-Pro has played 14 games, posting 68 grabs for 639 yards (with a career-low 9.4 yards per catch) and five touchdowns, while also tallying 13 carries for 49 yards and a score on the ground. Diggs has outperformed Samuel in terms of both receptions and total yards gained, though Samuel has found the end zone more often.
Although Diggs has certainly had the more productive campaign, giving Patriots' offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels a player with Samuel's versatility is an intriguing prospect, and one New England will have another opportunity to explore this offseason when he hits free agency (depending on what his price tag looks like).
Tee Higgins was rumored to be Mike Vrabel's top target in free agency
This past offseason, Higgins was reported to be the Patriots' top free agent wide receiver target. The team had been preparing to offer him big money until he was franchise tagged by the Bengals for a second-straight year, and New England had to turn their attention elsewhere.
On paper, a move to the Patriots would have made a lot of sense for both sides, as New England would get a talented, young wide out entering his age 26 season to pair with Maye, while Higgins would finally get a chance to step out of the shadow of his 5x Pro Bowl teammate Ja'Marr Chase and be a team's true number one option.
The 6'4" pass catcher was coming off a 2024 campaign that saw him record 73 receptions for 911 yards and a career-best 10 touchdowns.
However, Cincinnati wanted to keep its duo of star receivers together, deciding to franchise tag Higgins in early March before locking him up to a four-year, $115 million deal just shy of two weeks later. So far this season, Higgins has tallied 49 catches for 720 yards and tied his career-high with 10 scores.
While Diggs has topped Higgins' catch and receiving yard totals in 2025, it's important to note the latter hasn't had Bengals' 2x Pro Bowl quarterback Joe Burrow throwing to him for much of this season due to an injury that has kept the gunslinger sidelined for all but six games.
Throw in the fact that Higgins is six years younger than Diggs, and it becomes worth wondering if the Patriots would have been better off acquiring Higgins.
Maybe so, but this would not have been a one-for-one tradeoff. Not only would landing Higgins mean New England probably doesn't end up signing Diggs, but the team also might have missed out on star defensive tackle Milton Williams, who Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer has said the Patriots used leftover money from the lack of a Higgins deal to land.
""With the money that they freed up -- that they would have perhaps given to Tee Higgins -- they went the extra mile to go get Milton Williams. The Patriots blew Milton Williams and his camp out of the out of the water with a $26 million per year offer, and Milton Williams is a Patriot and is probably one of their three or four best players. Now, it all worked out because the personnel department, the coaching staff, was able to pivot off of having Higgins as the initial target. Then they filled the receiver need a little bit later on with Stephon Diggs.""Albert Breer
A case can be made for Higgins over Diggs, but when considered alongside Diggs coming in a package deal with Williams, the debate quickly ends. Signing Williams has proved crucial to New England's defense, and the team still got a talented receiver in Diggs. In the end, it all worked out for the best for the Patriots.