Bills GM Brandon Beane discusses future of WR Stefon Diggs

Buffalo Bills general manager Brandon Beane was asked during Tuesday's end-of-season news conference if he still believes Stefon Diggs is a No. 1 wide receiver after Diggs ended this season with somewhat of a whimper. 

"He’s a No. 1 receiver," Beane directly answered, as shared by Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk. "I firmly believe that. I’m not wavering off of that." 

Diggs' alleged frustrations over his role in the offense repeatedly generated headlines last offseason, but Beane insisted in early August he never came close to trading the 30-year-old despite reports suggesting otherwise. 

Diggs ultimately was named a team captain, and ESPN stats show he finished the regular season ranked seventh in the NFL with 107 receptions, 13th with 1,183 receiving yards and tied for eighth with eight touchdown grabs. 

However, Diggs recorded his last touchdown catch of the campaign in Buffalo's Week 12 loss at the Philadelphia Eagles. He was also guilty of a costly fourth-quarter drop in the club's divisional-round playoff defeat against the Kansas City Chiefs this past Sunday. 

"Listen, we have to continue to put weapons out there to keep teams from bracketing him or locking him down in different ways to take him away," Beane added about Diggs. "They know you’re gonna want to — Stef can still play. I’m sure he would love to have that deep ball (versus the Chiefs) again. He’d be the first to tell you. He’s super competitive. He’s going to work his tail off this offseason. I know there’s various reasons or questions on this, there’s production and all that, but I still see Stef as a No. 1 receiver." 

Per Ryan O'Halloran of The Buffalo News, Bills head coach Sean McDermott said Tuesday that the team is not facing "a situation where you strip it down to the studs and start all over." 

Thus, McDermott and company likely will need Diggs to play at a Pro Bowl level beyond November 2024 as the club hopes to make it to and past next January's AFC Championship game.