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Stefon Diggs is the latest highest-profile wide receiver to switch teams after being traded to the Houston Texans. But he is getting more than new shades of blue and red – he is also getting a new number.
Aaron Wilson, NFL reporter for Houston's NBC affiliate KPRC 2, reported on Thursday that the four-time Pro Bowler with the Buffalo Bills paid veteran safety Jimmie Ward $100,000 for the right to wear the No. 1 jersey (the former San Francisco 49er will return to No. 20). He had previously worn 14 throughout his NFL career:
This is not the first time Diggs has donned No. 1. Back in college, he wore it with the Maryland Terrapins. However, NFL rules at the time he was drafted prohibited wide receivers like him from using Nos. 1-9.
Stefon Diggs' trade request contained no-Chiefs caveat
The Stefon Diggs era is officially over in Orchard Park, but details about his departure from the Buffalo Bills continue to emerge.
Several teams were interested in his services, but one certain AFC rival was never going to be in the running, according to former quarterback Chris Simms. That is none other than the Kansas City Chiefs.
Speaking to Mike Florio on NBC's "PFT Live", he said:
“There was no way he was going to be allowed on the team. From what I do know, is he was allowed to seek a trade from anybody in the league except the Kansas City Chiefs," Simms said.
"That’s what I’ve been told by multiple people. He was allowed to do that. The Chiefs were the only team they weren’t going to trade to.”
The caveat was perhaps understandable, as the Bills have been fostering a rivalry with the three-peat-chasing defending Super Bowl champions ever since Diggs came to town in 2020. But their postseason meetings ended the same way – defeat, first in the AFC Championship Game, then twice in the Divisional Round. And they did not want to see their top offensive weapon join the very team they could not beat.
However, the Chiefs still have another way to acquire Diggs: via free agency. His contract was recently reworked to eliminate its last three years, allowing him to shop himself around in 2025.
