Patriots To Keep $69 Million Free-Agent Receiver Amid Rumors

The New England Patriots needed to acquire some playmakers to provide some help for their second-year star quarterback, Drake Maye. It looked like the Patriots were going to wait for the draft until they went out and signed star receiver Stefon Diggs to a three-year, $69 million deal. Diggs is coming off a torn ACL and could be out until around week four.

Diggs has only been on the team for a few months and has already faced some adversity. First, there was a video of Stefon Diggs out on the boat during OTAs that caused him to receive a lot of backlash. Since Diggs is supposed to be rehabbing and getting ready for the season, it was a bad look, and the media tore him apart.

It did not help that he followed this by not being present for the start of OTAs. This had people questioning if Diggs was really dedicated to returning from his injury or if he was just cruising by. There was even an interview with Mike Vrabel where he told the media he talked to Stefon Diggs but refused to give up any specific details about their conversation.

All this led to rumors of Diggs' tenure ending with the Patriots before it even started. A lot of talk went around that the Patriots would potentially cutting Stefon Diggs before the season started. The boat, missing OTAs, and rumors about Diggs' charecter made it seem like he might not have been the guy for the Patriots.

This would have left the Patriots back with minimal playmakers again and limited options for where to find more. The Patriots finally signed a true first-option wide receiver, and it seemed like it was not going to work out. That was until Diggs returned to OTAs.

Diggs came back and looked good for where he is in the recovery stage of his ACL. There was even a clip of Diggs helping out and working with some of the Patriots' younger receivers. Diggs could potentially be ready for the start of the NFL season, and with the way he looked at OTA's it is starting to look like more of a possibility.

It seemed like everything was okay, and the rumors about Diggs may have been blown out of proportion, and that is exactly what it was. NFL insider Ian Rapoport tweeted earlier today that, despite the rumors, the Patriots have no intention of releasing Stefon Diggs. He said the team has high hopes for Diggs and that his showing up to OTAs was a good thing that the team took notice of.