The New England Patriots entered the 2025 NFL offseason with a major need at receiver. They addressed it with a major signing late in free agency.
Diggs spent the 2024 season with the Houston Texans and was a key weapon for C.J. Stroud across eight games. He racked up 47 catches for 496 yards and three touchdowns before a torn ACL ended his season.
The Patriots will be hoping Diggs can show the same solid form he did before suffering the serious knee injury.
Here are the winners and losers of Diggs ending his first free agency cycle by landing with the Patriots.
WINNERS
Stefon Diggs
Diggs made out very well for a 31-year-old receiver coming off a torn ACL. He capitalized on New England’s inability to land Tee Higgins or another top, young receiver on the open market. Diggs’ three-year, $69 million deal is tied for 16th among receivers in average annual value.
Diggs also went to what looks like a favorable situation for him. He is the clear-cut best receiver on New England’s roster and will get a chance to work with Drake Maye, an up-and-coming young starter who flashed as a rookie despite being surrounded by one of the NFL’s weakest offensive rosters. That will give Diggs a chance to find success as he enters the latter stages of his career.
Drake Maye
It cannot be overstated how big an upgrade Diggs will be to Maye’s supporting cast. Last season, New England’s top two receiving weapons were Hunter Henry and Demario ‘Pop’ Douglas. Comparatively, Diggs – a 2020 first team All-Pro – was on pace for his seventh consecutive 1,000-yard season before suffering a torn ACL in Week 8.
Maye should enjoy working with Diggs, who has largely been a steady contributor throughout his career.
Will Campbell and Armand Membou
The Patriots had gaping holes at receiver and left tackle before signing Diggs. While they still need to add receiving talent to their roster, Diggs’ presence bumps left tackle up to New England’s No. 1 need. That could put the Pats on track to take a tackle with the No. 4 overall pick in the 2025 NFL draft, which would benefit Campbell and Membou, the consensus top tackles in this year’s class.
Amari Cooper and Keenan Allen
There’s little doubt the Patriots overpaid for Diggs considering his injury concern. That could be a boon for some of the other veteran receivers on the open market.
Cooper, 30, and Allen, 32, are close in age to Diggs, so they may try to parlay his big deal into lucrative paydays of their own. Of course, not every receiver-needy team league-wide is flush with cap space like the Patriots, but at the very least, Cooper and Allen can try to command a higher-than-expected AAV on a one-year deal.
LOSERS
Ja’Lynn Polk
Polk struggled immensely during his rookie season with the Patriots, making just 12 catches for 87 yards and two touchdowns. The Patriots have now added Diggs and Mack Hollins to the receiver room and may yet add more talent in the 2025 NFL draft.
That doesn’t mean New England is definitely going to move on from Polk. However, his path to playing time is more crowded. As such, he will have to be at his best this offseason as he looks to impress Mike Vrabel and the rest of the Patriots’ new coaching staff.
Teams seeking veteran receivers
The Patriots giving Diggs $23 million in AAV could cause the price of the remaining free-agent receivers on the market to rise. That will be bad news for cap-strapped teams looking to bolster their receiver rooms.
Also, playoff contenders that wanted to land Diggs as a No. 2 or No. 3 receiver have to be disappointed by this development.
