Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott admits he is “very concerned” with the absence of Stefon Diggs from practice.
The Bills took part in their first mandatory minicamp on Tuesday, where every player on the roster was due to attend. It was the next stage in the off-season programme, following on from the organised team activities (OTA).
McDermott was speaking to reporters following the first session on Tuesday's minicamp ahead of the 2023 NFL regular season. The Bills head coach was asked about the attendance of his roster, and revealed that Diggs was not in the building.
Diggs did not turn up to the voluntary OTAs in May, but given this was not mandatory it was not flagged as a cause for concern at the time. However, McDermott has admitted that he is “very concerned” with the absence of his wide receiver.
“Stef (Diggs) is not here, but everyone else is here at the current time,” McDermott said in a press conference on Tuesday.
He added: “I’m very concerned about that. I respect everyone’s questions and what they want to know about our team.
“Right now, I’m not going to get into that anymore. We’ll talk about practice, I’m happy to answer those questions and we’ll move forward from there.”
Diggs is about to enter the second year of a four-year contract which was agreed in April last year. The 29-year-old signed a $96million contract extension, which included a $21.5m signing bonus and $70m in total guarantees over the length of the contract.
In March of this year, the Bills restructured Diggs’ contract to free up further cap space. Instead of paying a base salary, the Bills converted that into a signing bonus in order to gain a further $5.4m in cap space.
NFL Insider has reported that Diggs is due to make $24.4m in 2023, which includes $22.7m of the signing bonus as part of the restructure in March. However, it remains to be seen what the organisation will do following the update that Diggs has not showed up to the first mandatory minicamp of the off-season.
Diggs was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in 2015 in the fifth round of the NFL Draft with the 146th overall pick. After five seasons in Minneapolis, the receiver was traded to the Bills in March 2020, where he has become a key figure in the team’s offence.
The three-time Pro Bowler finished the 2022 season with 108 receptions totalling 1,429 yards and 11 touchdowns. Quarterback Josh Allen has often used Diggs as one of his most valuable reception options in offensive snaps.
