ORCHARD PARK – The Buffalo Bills start the final phase of their offseason program Tuesday, a three-day mini camp in which all players are required to be in attendance, and all eyes will be on whether wide receiver Stefon Diggs shows up.
For the first time since Diggs joined the team in a 2020 trade from Minnesota, he skipped the entire offseason program. While it’s true that attendance for the sessions prior to this week were voluntary, it was still somewhat surprising that the three-time Pro Bowler didn’t show up for anything, and it raised speculation about whether he’s unhappy with the team.
Assuming he’s on the field Tuesday and agrees to talk to the media after practice, we may get an answer to that question.
Throughout the offseason, Sean McDermott, Brandon Beane and Josh Allen have shrugged off Diggs’ absence, using the same mantra that it was voluntary. Allen said in late May, “We’d love to have him here; I’d love to have him here. I understand that, I mean, OTAs aren’t for everybody. And again, it is voluntary at the end of the day.”
He then spun it to the positive by saying Diggs’ absence allowed other receivers to get additional practice reps.
“Trent Sherfield, getting a lot of the Z reps and learning this offense, I’ve loved what I’ve seen from Trent so far,” Allen said. “Some of the guys are getting a lot of good work, and maybe we wouldn’t have gotten that if he is here right now. So, I know those guys aren’t taking that for granted.”
Some of Diggs’ social media activity since the playoff loss to the Bengals seemed to hint at some dissatisfaction with the Bills and their inability to get over the hump and get to the Super Bowl. Then again, it might all just be Diggs’ competitive nature seeping out because he’s always been a player who wears his heart on his sleeve.
I took a week of vacation last week and missed quite a bit at One Bills Drive. Here are some thoughts I have about what went on:
Buffalo Bills break ground (sort of) on new Highmark Stadium
Fake as it was, given that the shovels wielded by team executives and politicians didn’t actually break ground but just plunged into a neatly piled mound of dirt, it was still nice to know the project is officially underway. And hey, owner Terry Pegula even spoke, quite a rare occurrence since he and his wife Kim bought the team in 2014. Sorry I missed it.
It will take three years to finish the construction with a targeted opening of 2026, and until then, there will be some logistical challenges for fans attending games in 2023, 2024 and 2025 due to the loss of parking spots, but there is no doubt the groundbreaking has spurred excitement for the future.
Signing Leonard Floyd could be a great move
Getting an edge rusher with Floyd’s impressive resume to sign a deal so late in the free agent process was an impressive feat for Beane. It is also an indication that he knows the Bills’ pass rush needs all the help it can get, especially while Von Miller is out, and he’s trying to bring in as much competition as possible.
However, by signing the 30-year-old Floyd, he may have just added the man who will start in Miller’s place opposite Greg Rousseau. Floyd is going into his eighth NFL season after four years with the Bears and three with the Rams. Since going to Los Angeles, he really blossomed and made 29 sacks, 184 tackles and four fumble recoveries.
That production dwarfs what the Bills have gotten combined from AJ Epenesa, Boogie Basham and Shaq Lawson. Now, Floyd certainly benefited playing next to superstar DT Aaron Donald, not to mention with Miller for half of the 2021 season when the Rams won the Super Bowl, but the 6-foot-5, 240-pounder has proven to be a strong and reliable player.
“I want to win. I want to win the Super Bowl,” Floyd said, explaining why he settled for less money in order to come to Buffalo. “I’m examining teams and looking at the rosters and the Bills are the best. I just felt like if I come here, I can help the team get there and win.”
Another low-key move that could pay off was the signing of the 2020 third-round pick of the Vikings. I’m not sure what happened in Minnesota because it wasn’t like Dantzler was a bad player, but they released him in March, and after he signed with the Commanders, they released him a couple of weeks ago.
He started 26 of 35 games in his three seasons and made three interceptions and 149 tackles. Pro Football Focus gave him favorable grades and his career completion percentage against is a reasonable 63.9%. At 6-foot-2, he gives the Bills some much-needed size at the position.
Tre’Davious White should be back to being Tre’Davious White this year, but the other side is wide open. Kaiir Elam, Dane Jackson, Christian Benford and now Dantzler will all get the opportunity to win that job and, of the four, Dantzler is the most accomplished NFL player.
The time has come for Ed Oliver to break out
I’m not going to say I was surprised that the Bills extended Oliver’s contract for four years, even after they had declined the fifth-year option on him back in 2021. Beane has said many times the goal is to draft, develop and re- sign players, and that’s what the philosophy was here.
And that’s fine, but now it’s time for Oliver to earn that money because so far, he has been a disappointing player in relation to his status as the No. 9 overall pick in the 2019 draft.
He was full of himself when he spoke to reporters last week.
“I don’t feel any pressure,” he said. “I feel like (I’ll) outplay the contract to be honest. That’s just the way I think. I just want to shut everyone up who said I was overpaid or something like that. Just sit back and watch.”
I’m sure Beane loved hearing that, but I also think he’d rather see Oliver do it as opposed to saying he’s going to do it.
“He naturally has a chip, and I think he is aware that some people question whether he earned (his deal) or whether he was worth that (amount of money),” Beane said. “We don’t (question him). There’s more meat on the bone. Ed is naturally wired that way. He wants to prove it. He still looks at himself as a young guy and he wants to get back to the table and see if he can get paid even more.”
Von Miller thinks he can be ready for the opener
One thing I’ve learned about Miller in the year-plus he’s been here is that he loves to talk big and bold. He had us all but convinced that he had talked to Odell Beckham Jr. into joining the Bills. To a lesser extent, it was the same with DeAndre Hopkins.
He’s a super energetic and positive personality, and as that pertains to his return from ACL surgery, of course he thinks he’ll have a chance to dress for the Sept. 11 games at New York. Maybe he will, but don’t bet the farm on that happening.
White needed a full year to get back into games after his torn ACL, and he’s seven years younger than Miller. Plus, I highly doubt the Bills will be on board with Miller rushing back so soon. I think they’ll slow-play his return to make sure they have him fully healthy for the final two-thirds of the season.
And really, the Floyd signing enables them to do that because he’s a player who can be trusted to produce in Miller’s absence as opposed to Epenesa, Basham, Lawson, or whoever else they try on the edge.
Sal Maiorana can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @salmaiorana. To subscribe to Sal’s newsletter, Bills Blast, which will come out every Friday during the offseason, please follow this link: https://profile.democratandchronicle.com/newsletters/bills-blast
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Will Stefon Diggs attend Buffalo Bills mandatory mini camp?