DIGGIN' IT

Bills open new year with blockbuster deal

- MARK LUDWICZAK

The Bills weren’t messing around in their quest to add a true No. 1 receiver to Josh Allen’s arsenal of weapons.

Buffalo opened the start of the new NFL year with a bang, acquiring Stefon Diggs in a blockbuster trade from the Minnesota Vikings. Buffalo sent their upcoming first-round pick, along with fifth- and sixth-round picks in 2020 and a fourth-round pick in 2021 — a steep price, for sure — to land the impact playmaker. Buffalo also received a 2020 seventh-round pick.

The move came alongside reports that the Bills were not enthusiastic about the upcoming wide receiver class and their chances of landing immediate help with the 22nd pick. In Diggs, there are no question marks or concerns about his ceiling or talent — he’s proven to be the real deal in his first five years in the NFL.

The Maryland product is coming off back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons and has 4,623 receiving yards and 30 touchdowns for his career. He’s best known for the Minneapolis Miracle — the incredible, improbable and unlikely 61-yard reception that sent Minnesota to the 2018 NFC Championship (on a play that was named “Buffalo right, Seven Heaven,” ironically enough) — but he’s proven to be much more than that. Diggs is a speedy, shifty, technical wideout who is considered one of the very best route runners in the league, one who can hurt opponents and change games in an instant with his big-play potential.