Is the Diggs / Jefferson trade the best NFL trade in the last 20 years?

[BullBuchanan]

The chargers may have gotten some all-pro players, but the Giants got 2 Super Bowls. It's not really debatable that the Giants won based on the only metric that matters.
 

31 minutes ago, Utah John said:

The Chargers had both Brees and Rivers, and had to pick one to keep.  They chose Rivers, a very good QB, and they let Brees, who was injured at the time and who turned out to be even better than Rivers, leave as a free agent.  I don't know why the Chargers didn't do something to get some kind of return for Brees, who had been their starter for a few years and had played really well in that period.  But, that wasn't a trade between the Saints and Chargers.

No, the Chargers won that trade by a mile.  Except for a couple of seasons when Eli QB'd teams with great defenses, his career was pretty ordinary.  The Chargers turned the picks they got for Eli into multiple All-Pro players.  

Edited September 12, 2022 by BullBuchanan

[newcam2012]

52 minutes ago, Inigo Montoya said:

Before everyone breaks a finger writing that we didn't trade Diggs for Jefferson, the end result is exactly that.  I'm hard pressed to think of another trade that was more beneficial FOR BOTH SIDES of a trade.  There are plenty of trades where one side gets an incredible value and the other side gets hosed, but I think both the Bills and the Vikings got more than they could've hoped for in this trade.    Knowing what they know now, I think both teams would still make that trade today.

 

Week 1;

Jefferson - 9 catches - 184 yards - 2 TDs

Diggs -       8 catches - 122 yards -  1 TD

 

You have to give Justin Jefferson his due, he is amazing and may be a better pure receiver than Diggs is.    We'll never know if the Bills would have drafted Jefferson had they not traded their 1st rounder for Diggs.   I suspect that if Jefferson had been drafted by the Bills he would probably excel here too.  He's just an incredible talent.  But the Bills needed more than just a true WR1 when they traded for Diggs

 

Beane was looking for a WR1 with a veteran presence in the locker room to help this team grow.  He knew Allen needed someone who had been around and could help Allen take that next step.  With all the talk coming out of Minnesota about Diggs being a diva, I don't think the Bills could ask anything more of Diggs than what he has already given this team since his arrival.   I don't think this franchise is where it is today without Diggs in a Bills uniform.  

 

The Vikings are relevant because of Justin Jefferson and have an elite WR1 on a 1st round rookie contract and they can build around him for years.  The Bills have a veteran WR1 in Diggs who is elite in his own right and who has bought into "the process" making Allen and everyone else in that locker room better by being there.

 

Admittedly, I'm not a student of the game like many on this board are, but I can't think of another trade that did more for both sides than Diggs/Jefferson did.  

Nice post but there was no guarantee that Jefferson or what WR on the board was going to be really good and or elite receiver. The Vikings essentially traded a disgruntled Diggs and hoped to find a viable replacement. No one knew Jefferson would be this good. Of course, many were very very high on him. The Bills were in win now mode and absolutely knew what they were getting in Diggs. Most thought Diggs was the missing piece that could lead to a super bowl appearance and or win it. I give Beane lots of credit for the move! Take a look at the Von Miller move. Beane isn't afraid to grab elite talent because we all know how close this team is to hoisting the Lombardi Trophy. 

[Southern_Bills]

6 minutes ago, BullBuchanan said:

The chargers may have gotten some all-pro players, but the Giants got 2 Super Bowls. It's not really debatable that the Giants won based on the only metric that matters.
 

 

You are 100% factually correct, but can you imagine how good Rivers would have been on those Giants teams? Also having the extra draft capital that they would have kept by not doing the trade? 

 

But that's coulda woulda shoulda, Giants won based on actual events.

[C.Biscuit97]

2 minutes ago, Southern_Bills said:

 

You are 100% factually correct, but can you imagine how good Rivers would have been on those Giants teams? Also having the extra draft capital that they would have kept by not doing the trade? 

 

But that's coulda woulda shoulda, Giants won based on actual events.

The only thing with Rivers is he had a knack for throwing terrible INTs at bad times. But Eli wasn’t that good either though. Those 2 Giant SB teams are some of the worst champions. They just got hot at the right time.

[Utah John]

9 minutes ago, BullBuchanan said:

The chargers may have gotten some all-pro players, but the Giants got 2 Super Bowls. It's not really debatable that the Giants won based on the only metric that matters.
 

You're suggesting that the Giants won those SBs because of Eli.  I think the Giants won them because Eli had good years -- much better than he usually played -- and the team kept finding ways to win.  I'm saying they won the SBs with Manning, not because of him.  

 

I think Peyton Manning was a far better QB than Eli, but he had to go to a new team to win his second SB, and at that point it was Denver's D that won it for them.  Peyton Manning spent all those years in Indy, lighting up the league, but Pats/Brady.  That doesn't mean Peyton Manning wasn't great.  

 

Teams win SBs.  QBs are often the most important factor, but not always, and a great QB is not going to win a SB on his own.

[GunnerBill]

4 minutes ago, Southern_Bills said:

 

You are 100% factually correct, but can you imagine how good Rivers would have been on those Giants teams? Also having the extra draft capital that they would have kept by not doing the trade? 

 

But that's coulda woulda shoulda, Giants won based on actual events.

 

But the Giants wouldn't have drafted Rivers. Big Ben was their #2 after Eli. 

 

Similarly I am not sure the Bills would have taken Jefferson. I think they'd have gone for a proven outside guy. Maybe Tee Higgins. The Vikings had their X receiver in Theilen and they started Jefferson in the slot too. Halfway through his rookie year he was almost 75% slot, though it evened up the rest of the way and last year he was 75% wide. But the "how will he look wide?" thing was a legit concern for teams.

[BADOLBILZ]

16 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

Yea the Bills needed someone to elevate Josh Allen right there and then. Jefferson is great. Athletically for sure more gifted than Stef. But Stef still as of right now today is a better route runner and it was exactly that sort of "always gets open" guy that the Bills needed for Josh. That level of vet savvy. 

 

It is also true to say that there were questions on Jefferson. His breakout was as a slot player in 2019. His 2018 tape as an outside receiver was pretty mixed. The Bills couldn't afford to risk picking a receiver there and then find out he was just a slot player. The reality is that he had just taken that bump in performance that comes with maturity in that intervening year and had LSU left him wide in 2019 then he probably would have been a dominating wideout for them too. 

 

But the Bills decision made perfect sense. It was a great move. Even if they missed out on an elite young receiver as a result.

 

 

Trading for a WR1 veteran was a must.........but let's not give Beane too much credit.......it was a must because they had already short-changed their young QB at the WR position for 2 seasons with some dubious draft decisions.    They didn't have the luxury of developing a 1st round WR in such a big year for Allen.

 

Now,  had they drafted one of the stud WR's in the 2019 draft that fell...........instead of reaching for need for Cody Ford..............maybe the Bills end up with Metcalf/Brown opposite Jefferson.........with Jefferson being WR1 of course because he's the best in the NFL.  It's no contest between he and Diggs and Diggs is great.    Jefferson is just on a first ballot HOF trajectory.   They got the lesser, but still great, player but they also have expended something like $50M on Diggs over the cost of having drafted WR's instead.

 

There were questions on Jefferson but only in the same way that there are on any WR taken that late in round 1 or later............you yourself thought he was a slot-only option in the NFL.    

[BullBuchanan]

Just now, Southern_Bills said:

 

You are 100% factually correct, but can you imagine how good Rivers would have been on those Giants teams? Also having the extra draft capital that they would have kept by not doing the trade? 

 

But that's coulda woulda shoulda, Giants won based on actual events.

I don't think he would have been any better at all. His Chargers teams were all-time great teams. Statistically, Rivers is a top 4 QB all time who was playing with a top 10 all-time RB along with two future pro-bowl RBs as backups, a top 5 all-time FB, a top 5 all-time TE, a dominant pro bowl WR, and a defense loaded with pro-bowlers and all-pros.

The problem with the chargers was Rivers and to a part, his destiny. He just didn't have the clutch trait. You could count on him to fall apart when all the chips were down, and on the occasion that he didn't fortune would ensure that he would still fail via a missed chip-shot, botched snap, or a broken play on defense at the last second. The dude was the ultimate Cooler. I've never seen so many twists of fate happen to a player in the last moments of a football game.

Tony Romo had that same problem coupled with injuries. They both had the talent to be Super Bowl Champions, but you just knew it was never going to happen for them.

5 minutes ago, Utah John said:

You're suggesting that the Giants won those SBs because of Eli.  I think the Giants won them because Eli had good years -- much better than he usually played -- and the team kept finding ways to win.  I'm saying they won the SBs with Manning, not because of him.  

 

I think Peyton Manning was a far better QB than Eli, but he had to go to a new team to win his second SB, and at that point it was Denver's D that won it for them.  Peyton Manning spent all those years in Indy, lighting up the league, but Pats/Brady.  That doesn't mean Peyton Manning wasn't great.  

 

Teams win SBs.  QBs are often the most important factor, but not always, and a great QB is not going to win a SB on his own.

I'm not suggesting anything except they won them and the player they won them with belonged to a team that supposedly "won" the trade for him. rivers was definitely the more prolific and consistent player over the years, but I'd pick a QB out of a hat to play in a big game for me before I'd take Rivers.

[transient]

1 hour ago, Warcodered said:

Chargers-Saints with Brees and Rivers.

Brees signed with New Orleans as a free agent. Were you thinking the draft day trade of Eli to the Giants and Rivers to the Chargers?

[JoeF]

24 minutes ago, Big Turk said:

 

We visited Minneapolis a few weeks ago and stayed in Saint Paul not far from the downtown area...must say a VERY underrated city with a lot going on...also did not realize it was such a big city, coming in 16th in metro area just behind Seattle and ahead of San Diego. Mall of America was unreal...literally has an amusement park inside it. Sculpture park was cool and the Wabasha Street Caves were kinda bad ass...

 

Buffalo actually has a weird connection to Minneapolis as well...through the mid 1800s and into the early 1900s, Minneapolis was the flour milling capital of the world, however in 1930, that title was passed to Buffalo which was a title we held through the early 1990s. Learned that at the Mill Museum...

You saw what I see every day @Big Turk. We moved here during the pandemic.  We have our own consulting business, so all I need is a good airport and MSP qualifies.  I have a stepson who had pretty much exhausted all of his elite hockey options in North Carolina and he wanted to play HS hockey more than anything.  We all said "Why Not?"

 

I had lived here before but this was new for my wife.   Saint Paul reminds me a lot of Buffalo - still little neighborhood watering holes, families who have lived here for generations in the same neighborhood, etc.  The winters are what they are but the Community, particularly the hockey community is great.  Even though we are interlopers we have been embraced and made great friends.

[mikemac2001]

1 hour ago, Buffalo Junction said:

Maybe the Chargers/Falcons pick swap that got them LaDanian Tomlinson and Michael Vick respectively? There are probably a few other trades that worked out as well. 

Crazy thing is they got Brees in the 2nd RD can’t do much better with top 2 picks 

[GunnerBill]

23 minutes ago, BADOLBILZ said:

 

There were questions on Jefferson but only in the same way that there are on any WR taken that late in round 1 or later............you yourself thought he was a slot-only option in the NFL.    

 

I did. I knew he was super talented but I did not like his 2018 tape outside. And he did go to a perfect place. Went somewhere with a lot of play action who had a proven vet outside already and where they could work him in. He'd have succeeded anywhere because of his talent. But I am not sold he'd have had the early success he had if he had gone to a team like the Bills would have been - trying to shoehorn him straight into a #1 role outside because they needed that guy.

[Kwai San]

1 hour ago, JoeF said:

I live in Saint Paul.  The Minneapolis Star Tribune did a great story on Jefferson last Sunday.  He is an amazing young man.  A worker on the level of Diggs.  The question is will the Vikings will keep him to a second contract.  I think they will. 

 

The local scuttlebutt was that they were worried about Diggs' durability due to his small size.

 

The Vikings game is going to be competitive.  I thought it would be a relatively easy lift but not now....

 

 

 

My thing is that the local word around the water cooler in Minny was that Josh WAS a diva and a regular PITA.  HOW did that happen and how lucky are the Bills that those bags got left in Minny???

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

2 hours ago, msw2112 said:

It could be argued that the Vikings "won" the trade because Jefferson is even more productive than Diggs, he is younger, and paid much less (still on rookie contract), and the Vikes got additional draft picks.  That said, I am going to agree with you that Diggs brought/brings intangibles to the Bills that were needed and call this trade a win-win, and agree that it looks so far like one of the best trades the league has seen.

At the time of the trade it was not determined who buffalo would get at WR.  So people saying "you could have had jefferson" - at the time they did not know who would be available at that pick.  

 

Ruggs Jeudy and Lamb were all possible top 10 picks and all fell out of the top 10.  Reagor went above Jefferson which was surprising, and then you also had Aiyuk go in the 1st.  Pre trade most draft pundits had us getting Higgins, Aiyuk, or maybe Jefferson.  

[SlimShady'sSpaceForce]

I’m not complaining 😆 

[BADOLBILZ]

5 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

 

I did. I knew he was super talented but I did not like his 2018 tape outside. And he did go to a perfect place. Went somewhere with a lot of play action who had a proven vet outside already and where they could work him in. He'd have succeeded anywhere because of his talent. But I am not sold he'd have had the early success he had if he had gone to a team like the Bills would have been - trying to shoehorn him straight into a #1 role outside because they needed that guy.

 

Yeah as much as Diggs/Jefferson turned out to be a near direct swap.........Beane really lost the luxury of simply drafting a WR in round 1 in 2020 when they made the bad process decisions to select Cody Ford and Devin Singletary in the 2nd and 3rd rounds of the 2019 draft.    So I've never looked at it like it was either Diggs or Jefferson.

 

Ford turned into a total bust who also cost them Wyatt Teller.

 

But as much as I liked Singletary........I thought he was the best RB in that particular draft.........it made no sense to draft those 2 easy to address positions with early picks when they knew damn well they were going to struggle to ever get elite WR talent to ever come to Buffalo voluntarily.

 

They were almost "lucky" to even get the opportunity to give Minnesota those picks for Diggs..........they already got laughed at by Antonio Brown when they tried to trade for him.

 

It's pretty amazing when you think about it..........the Bills essentially traded away two like future HOF'ers in Patrick Mahomes AND Justin Jefferson(and gave All Pro Wyatt Teller away)........and have risen into the top "power ranking" team in the NFL.

 

Further proof of the Belichick axiom that you gotta' be making bad decisions all the time to be bad in the NFL...........because making even just a few egregiously bad moves is not enough to doom you if you follow them up with good ones.