How the Stefon Diggs Trade Affects the Buffalo Bills’ Draft Strategy

The NFL world saw a huge trade go down on Wednesday as the Buffalo Bills traded their star wide receiver Stefon Diggs to the Houston Texans for draft compensation.

In the trade, the Bills sent Stefon Diggs, a 2024 6th-round pick, and a 2025 5th-round pick to the Texans, and in return, they received a 2025 2nd-round pick. It's clear the Bills desperately wanted to move on from Diggs, as they are taking on a $31 million dead cap hit for the 2024 season. The decision to make this move could possibly have something to do with a tweet Diggs posted earlier this week, questioning whether or not he is "essential" to Josh Allen's success.

With such a big trade happening the month of the 2024 NFL Draft, you have to wonder how this move affects the Buffalo Bills' draft strategy.

Now that Diggs is off the roster, the Bills are left with a wide receiver core featuring Khalil Shakir, Curtis Samuel, and Justin Shorter. Curtis Samuel is a solid WR2/WR3 and Khalil Shakir is an exciting young player with some bonkers efficiency metrics, but I'm not sure the Bills can be comfortable heading into next season with this receiving core.

Luckily for them, the 2024 NFL Draft features a ton of receivers with incredible skill and/or great combinations of age and athleticism. Some of them have all three!

Even before trading Stefon Diggs, the Bills were expected to target a receiver with their first-round pick, which is pick No. 28. NFL Mock Draft Database has a consensus mock draft and it has projected the Bills to select Texas wide receiver Adonai Mitchell going back two months. On top of this, according to the site, the most popular pick for the Bills is LSU wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. However, he will likely be off the board by the time the Bills pick.

NFL Mock Draft Database isn't the only site that believes the Bills will target Adonai Mitchell in the first round. Tankathon also has this pairing in its three-round mock draft.

Before the Stefon Diggs trade, the Bills would've likely only targeted one wide receiver in the draft, but now they could draft multiple receivers; one in the first round and one later in the draft with their other nine picks.

One area where the Bills could target a late-round receiver is in the fourth or fifth round. They have five picks in these two rounds (No. 128, No. 133, No. 144, No. 160, and No. 163) and there are some talented wide receivers who are projected to be available in these spots.

If the Bills decide to double dip at receiver, a few receivers they could target later in the draft include: Johnny Wilson, Jamari Thrash, Ainias Smith, Jacob Cowing, Luke McCaffrey, Tahj Washington, and Anthony Gould.

The Stefon Diggs trade likely won't impact the Bills' draft strategy that much since they were already expected to take a wide receiver in the first round, but now they may target multiple receivers in the draft to help their superstar quarterback Josh Allen and they will have some good options late in the draft because this year's wide receiver class is rich with talent.