The New England Patriots are adding an experienced veteran to their wide receiver room. On Tuesday, the team signed Stefon Diggs, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Schefter reported the Patriots are giving Diggs a three-year contract worth $69 million. It includes $26 million in guaranteed money.
This signing comes after Diggs visited the Patriots last week. That included meeting with team staffers, as well as a physical.
Diggs, 31, joins the Patriots after spending last year with the Houston Texans. Over the first eight games Diggs caught 46 passes for 496 yards and three touchdowns. However his season ended there, when he suffered a torn ACL in late October. That injury is expected to keep Diggs out for the start of the 2025 season (for reference, Patriots wide receiver Kendrick Bourne tore his ACL around the same time on the calendar in the 2023 season and missed 11 months).
Prior to joining the Texans last year Diggs played for the Minnesota Vikings and Buffalo Bills. He had six consecutive 1,000-yard seasons prior to 2024, and was named an All-Pro twice.
The Patriots’ coaching staff should have some familiarity with Diggs. While in Minnesota he overlapped for one season with current wide receivers coach Todd Downing, who was the Vikings’ tight ends coach at the time. Last year in Houston his wide receivers coach was Ben McDaniels, the brother of current Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels.
While there will be questions about Diggs getting back to that level of play at 31-years old coming off of the torn ACL, he does provide significantly more experience than any other receiver currently on the Patriots’ roster. He could also be in position to add leadership in that room – he was a captain three times in Buffalo and was named one his first season in Houston – where quarterback C.J. Stroud spoke highly of what he meant for the team off the field and his desire to have Diggs return in 2025.
On the field though, the Patriots will likely have to start the season without Diggs (who will be eligible to begin the season on PUP and not count against the initial 53-man roster). The wide receivers currently on the roster are Bourne, DeMario Douglas, Kayshon Boutte, Ja’Lynn Polk, Javon Baker, Mack Hollins, JaQuae Jackson, and John Jiles.