Listening to Edelman and Gronk Discuss How 'Stefon Diggs is Still Pissed Off at the Bills' is Sweet Music to My Ears

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It doesn't take much digging to find anyone, even someone who self-identifies as a Patriots fan, who thinks it was a mistake for them to sign Stefon Diggs. I mean, the gripes write themselves. He's a diva. He's high maintenance. He couldn't even get along with Josh Allen. He tore his ACL. 

Even some of my best friends are bellyaching about getting the true WR1 we've been screaming for as we've been fed a rancid buffett of Gordons, Jujus, Sanus and Parkers at the very dead ends of their careers. Not to mention assorted N'Keals and (God forbid) Thorntons who brought nothing with them but zero ROI for valuable draft picks. And last year's rookie disasters Ja'Lynn Polk and Javon Baker are very close to making that list.

So to anyone complaining about them adding a guy who was on pace for his seventh straight 1,000-yard season, I say what Mr. Potter said to George Bailey. "Confound it, man! Are you afraid of success?!?" For the price of $26 million guaranteed, the Pats have their best receiver since Julian Edelman. Who just happened to be the last wideout in New England any defensive coordinator had to burn a single calorie preparing for. 

And speaking of Edelman, he's provided any doubters with another reason to celebrate this move:

“I like Stefon Diggs in New England, that situation, because Stefon Diggs is still pissed off at the Bills. There’s going to be hunger and there’s going to be urgency and there’s going to be a fire under his ass in the meeting room when he’s in New England at practice, which they could use a little fire under their ass in that receiver room.

“No one ever second-guesses how hard he works and the amount of work that he puts into his craft. So, if you’re getting a motivated Stefon Diggs, that could be really beneficial to the young football players in that young football room that they call the receiver room in New England.

“They have a lot of young football players there. It’d be really good for these younger guys to be able to see how a professional works daily. How a professional prepares daily. How a professional takes care of his body.

“They need a little veteran leadership in that room."

So you're not only getting this Diggs:

You're also adding this one to the worst receiver room in the NFL from 2000-2024:

As far as Diggs holding a grudge against Buffalo, that's an attitude this team has been lacking for half a decade if not more. Since the time Tom Brady stood on the field after the AFC championship game in Arrowhead reminding the interviewer everyone thought the Dynasty was over. And got the crowd at the Super Bowl send off rally to chant "We're still here!" That edge, that mean streak, that bloodthirsty need for vengeance, has been virtually non-existent ever since. Whatever beef Diggs had with the Bills, let him bring his Revenge Tour to Foxboro, and take the whole roster along with him.

As far as the ACL, Edelman himself knows how that is. He missed the entire 2017 season with one. Then came back the following year to have more catches per game, more yards per catch, more yards per game, more TDs and a higher catch % than he had before it. Yes, you can argue that's because he missed a whole year (plus the first four games of 2018 with a suspension) while Diggs is still recovering from his ACL tear from October. Fine. Then I'll remind you how Edelman's predecessor Wes Welker blew out is ACL and MCL at the end of 2009. (On a non-contact injury, but Bernard Pollard was on the field for Houston in that one, so you know he had something to do with it; he was the Patient Zero of Patriots lower leg injuries back in the day.) But he played 15 games the following season, and made the Pro Bowl. 

So go ahead, Pats fans. Stop being afraid to feel good about a wide receiver just because you've been burned so many times before. Embrace having an accomplished, dependable, professional WR1 once again. Especially one with a huge hair across his ass for the team that's been dominating the division for far too long now. Give me this guy all season long and twice against the Bills: