Stefon Diggs
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Stefon Diggs' future with the Patriots depends on whether he told truth to Mike Vrabel.
The Mike Vrabel Era officially got underway for the New England Patriots this week, as the new head coach of the six-time Super Bowl champion franchise conducted voluntary “organized team activity” (OTA) workouts for rookies and some veteran players over the past two weeks. Vrabel focused on building an identity for the 2025 Patriots, after back-to-back 4-13 seasons and four losing seasons in the last five.
But Vrabel’s team-building project risked being torn down when a sensational video of veteran wide receiver Stefon Diggs, signed as a free agent at the end of March, surfaced online.
Diggs Viral Video Overshadows Patriots OTAs
The wild video showed Diggs surrounded by scantily clad young women, reportedly on board a yacht off the coast of Miami, Florida, on May 26. While there’s not anything illegal or against NFL rules about that, the video also shows Diggs handing the women a small plastic bag containing an unidentified pink substance.
“Although it’s unclear what the pink powder is, Diggs warns the women not to ‘take all of it’ and tells them to ‘go have fun’ but ‘come back and see me soon,'” Page Six reporter Tamantha Ryan wrote on Thursday.
The video, and speculation about the nature of the pink substance, largely overshadowed football-related news that may have come out of the Patriots OTA workouts following Memorial Day weekend.
Diggs then failed to appear at the Wednesday session, which was the lone OTA practice open to the media this week. Vrabel attributed the absence to Diggs’ rehab from the torn knee ligament he suffered last season when he was a member of the Houston Texans.
Vrabel said little of substance about the Diggs video, other than that he and the Patriots were “aware” of it.
“The message will be the same for all our players, that we’re trying to make great decisions,” Vrabel told the media Wednesday. “Any conversations that I’ve had with Stefon will remain between him, I and the club.”
Insider Says Cut Decision on Diggs Must Be Quick
But on Friday, a longtime NFL insider journalist said that the Diggs situation — and the Patriots’ decision about whether to retain the four-time Pro Bowl pass catcher on their roster — would all come down to those private “conversations.”
“All things are on the table and I think really, to me at least, it’s going to boil down to what Stef told Vrabel, and how believable it was,” said NFL insider Albert Breer, appearing in Boston’s 98.5 sports talk radio. “My guess would be the reason he wasn’t at practice the other day might be because Mike told him to stay away and maybe they’re sorting through everything now.”
Diggs inked a three-year, $63.5 million deal with the Patriots, including $25 million in guaranteed payouts according to Spotrac.
According to Breer, as a result of the contract’s provisions, the Patriots must act quickly if they decide to part ways with Diggs.
“It’s up to the team to make a decision,” Breer said on 98.5. “If the team wants to recoup any of the guaranteed money, they have to cut him right away. Because you can’t hold him on the roster for two weeks and then decide, OK, we’re done with you.”
If Breer is correct, it appears that Diggs’ future with the Patriots should be known sometime before the weekend is out.