Josh Allen, the Buffalo Bills quarterback, spoke with media Thursday in his first press conference since his team sold standout wide receiver Stefon Diggs to the Houston Texans earlier this month.
“I guess that’s the nature of the business,” Allen said of the deal, as reported by Myles Simmons of Pro Football Talk. “And now that he’s in his seventh year, it’s just the way things are. I do not get paid to make modifications to the team. I am paid to be the best quarterback possible and to lead the people on this squad.”
Questions about Allen and Diggs’ connection emerged during Buffalo’s home playoff loss to the Cincinnati Bengals in January 2023, and they persisted throughout the season.
Diggs subsequently caught his final touchdown of the 2023 season in Buffalo’s Week 12 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, and he made a costly fourth-quarter drop in the team’s divisional-round playoff loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.
“Yeah, I sent him a text and received one back, just thanking him for everything he did for me,” Allen said of reaching out to Diggs after the trade. “I’ll always have a spot in my heart for him and I’ll always love him like a brother and wish him nothing but the best.”
Despite many offseason departures prior to the Diggs deal, DraftKings Sportsbook still had the Bills as the betting favorites at +160 odds to win the AFC East division title as of Thursday afternoon.
Such predictions are most likely based on the fact that many feel Allen will win his first regular-season Most Valuable Player Award, not if.
“My lasting memory of Stef will be [that he was] the receiver who helped me become the quarterback that I am today,” Allen said of Diggs, who was a teammate for the past four seasons. “And I’ll always thank him for that.”
Also on Thursday, DraftKings named Allen as the second favorite to win MVP honors for the 2018 season, with odds of +800. One wonders if he’d give Diggs a shoutout when accepting the prize in February 2025.
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