The Bills made it official and traded away their top wideout to the Texans the other day. Despite being one of the premiere receivers in the league, Stefon Diggs will now be suiting up for the Texans, the third team in his career so far. Steelers fans seem upset that Pittsburgh wasn’t in on this deal, but the team was wise to avoid this move.
Let’s be clear, the Texans got a good deal overall. The receiver market is down this year given the deep receiver class in the draft. The Steelers saw that firsthand when they traded Diontae Johnson away for pennies on the dollar a few weeks ago. That is the reason why Diggs only netted a second-round pick in 2025 and why Buffalo had to part with a few day-three picks on top of all of this.
This is a deal that made sense for both sides. Diggs has seemingly soured on Buffalo for some time, and with Josh Allen’s cap hit now ballooning, they needed some relief. The Texans, meanwhile, have their quarterback of the future on a rookie deal. Landing him a big-name target is great, and they have the cap space to accommodate.
The Steelers were wise to stay out of this
A lot of fans are complaining that Diggs would have been worth the second-round pick. While talent-wise I would agree, his fit in Pittsburgh right now would have been poor. While an easy upgrade over Johnson, the Steelers aren’t anywhere near in the same position as the Texans are right now.
This team has no answer at quarterback. The combination of Justin Fields and Russell Wilson appears to be better on paper than what has previously been fielded, neither are locks to be a long-term solution for this offense. On top of this, neither take this team into the Super Bowl conversation.
You would be adding an expensive veteran to said offense with the hopes of either Fields becoming that long-term answer or pulling the plug next year and drafting that guy.
More than likely, this team is at least two years away from being serious competitors, so you would both need to keep Diggs happy and not have his play regress in that timeframe. Considering his age (30 years old) and recent history of displeasure with his team, I don’t think either would work out.
This offense is also poised to be a run-heavy unit and try to feature George Pickens as their superstar target. Diggs wouldn’t want to be a second option, and I’m not sure he would remain content in an offense like this overall.
While the value was fair and the Steelers had a need, they were smart to stay on the sidelines for the Diggs sweepstakes. Houston, to be fair, was wise to target him and got him on a fair deal, but that doesn’t mean Pittsburgh needed to make the same move. Add another top target in the draft and avoid the drama that Diggs would have brought.