New England Patriots - NESN.com
The New England Patriots are not cutting Stefon Diggs.
It’s already been reported on both a local and national level that, despite what some people believe, there will be no tangible fallout from his incident on Memorial Day. NBC Sports Boston’s Tom Curran reported that whatever punishment is handed out won’t be discernible by the public or media. NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport reported that the relationship between the player and organization is already looking up.
We can’t fully close the book on this thing, though.
Diggs’ biggest crime in being caught on video flirting with women and in possession of an unknown pink substance doesn’t really have much to do with either of those two things, it has to do with the fact that a “leader” brought unnecessary attention to a team looking to establish a new culture. Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel balanced the line of being firm but also protecting his star wide receiver in the immediate fallout, but if there are more incidents moving forward, you’d have to imagine disciplinary actions will take place — which brings us to the question of the day.
Does this team need Diggs, or is he a luxury?
Yahoo Sports’ Nate Tice was firm in his response to that question, saying that the team didn’t need the player. I don’t believe it’s that simple, because while his points were certainly valid, you have to look at the surrounding factors of his deal, the dynamic in the receiver room and the optics of the situation.
Diggs technically hasn’t been paid yet, as the guaranteed money in his deal is expressly tied to passing a physical that will open him up to team drills. If he doesn’t pass, the team has an out, which goes to the point that headaches aren’t yet worth dealing with.
You can see that they are whenever he’s on the field, though.
Ja’Lynn Polk and Javon Baker are a pair of young wide receivers who were particularly locked into Diggs during practice on Monday, with the former routinely getting one-on-one attention from one of the best route technicians in the NFL. New England hasn’t had someone like that in the building since Julian Edelman retired, so while you can’t expect an older receiver coming off a major knee injury to produce at a high level, you can find value in other areas.
It’s also… you know… not a good look for the franchise if you’re cutting a player who technically never did anything illegal.
Diggs technically isn’t needed when looking at him from a strictly on-field standpoint, given the whole knee/age thing, but he’s absolutely needed from an experience and teaching standpoint. New England can’t afford not to give itself a chance with the player, so despite his transgressions away from the building, nothing about his status inside of it should change.
