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Mike Reiss
Foxborough, Massachusetts-The veteran open receiver Stefon Diggs says he only took a visit of free agent, to New England patriots, before officially signing his three-year contract with the team on Friday.
“I was considering a couple of other places, but now that is all in the past,” Diggs said at the Gillette stadium.
Diggs’s contract is worth $ 69 million, a source told Adam Schefter of ESPN, which is the range that the open receiver said he expected in terms of average per season, partly because he is leaving an acl torn in his right knee held on October 27 while playing for the Texans of Houston.
“I imagined [the contract] I was going to be close to that area, considering that it came out of the injury, but also the fact that I am one of the only receptors that had six seasons of 1,000 consecutive yards [before the injury]”He said.” Production has always been here. I can move the chains. I can do intermediate. I can deepen. I did it throughout my career. My curriculum probably speaks for itself, but it was more than the injury that would deter or earn money is what it is.
“I definitely see it as an opportunity. What could have been, I could have been. At this point I am where I am, and I am grateful.”
Diggs, 31, was presented by the team on Friday and joined his mother, Stephanie, who sat in the front row while answering questions from journalists.
He did not stop in establishing a schedule for when he is ready to practice, but sounded encouraged with how his knee has responded.
“I am ahead of the expected. I am trying to be at the forefront,” he said. “I have spoken quite seriously about the routine process, in terms of rehabilitation and everything.”
Diggs said he has only had a brief contact with the second -year field marshal Drake Maye, but is anxious to start developing a relationship with him, similar to how he did it with the field marshal of the Buffalo Bills, Josh Allen, from 2020 to 2023.
“It’s crazy because, when you ask, people say it acts a lot like Josh. And you know, that was my boy,” Diggs said. “We played it last year, and he showed a lot of fight. He has that burning mentality of Mariscal de Campo ‘I want to win’. So that is something that excites me and I love being close.”
The Patriots coach Mike Vrabel told the podcast “Green Light”, presented by former NFL player Chris Long, to sign Diggs was a movement made with Maye in mind.
“I just try to make sure to support Drake and support the football team,” Vrabel said. “This is a highly competitive receiver and surely occurs throughout his career and multiple ways. He has a game force for him. He can play physical, [has] The route ship, good at the capture point, has been good in the red zone. There is a style of play for him that I have always appreciated. … His conversation, his behavior, his attitude and his presence have been excellent through our conversations. “
