What Stefon Diggs to New England Means for Fantasy Football

On Tuesday evening, March 25th, it was announced that the New England Patriots would be signing wide receiver Stefon Diggs to a three-year, $69M deal, with $26M guaranteed. The move is the latest —and most aggressive— attempt to introduce some firepower into one of the worst pass-catching groups over the last handful of years. Though Diggs suffered a season-ending ACL injury in Week 8 with the Houston Texans, all signs point to a return ahead of the 2025 kickoff.

Let’s take a look at how he will impact the fantasy football landscape with his re-arrival to the AFC East.

Click here for more 2025 Player Profiles!

Stefon Diggs’ Wide Receiver Profile

Though Stefon Diggs’ streak of 1,000-yard seasons was snapped at seven, it’s hard to call 2024 a failure for the 31-year-old veteran. Through his eight games as a Houston Texan, Diggs averaged 8.0 targets, 5.9 receptions, and 62.0 yards per contest, logging a respectable 12.3 half-PPR points per game. Much of this came with a healthy Nico Collins controlling the target share and Tank Dell operating as C.J. Stroud’s deep-threat target.

There’s never a good time for the injury bug to come knocking, but Diggs went down at an inopportune time for both himself and the Texans’ passing attack, as he likely would have had a lengthy run as the team’s No. 1 option with Collins also hitting the IR with a hamstring injury through the middle of the season. Nevertheless, Diggs’ 2025 was cut short while ranking seventh in the league with his 47 receptions.

In his one season with Houston, Diggs saw a significant shift from his career norm with a massive increase in slot usage. His 52.8% slot rate was not only his highest since 2016 (62.9%), but it was also nearly double the 26.8% rate he posted during his time in Minnesota and Buffalo from 2017 to 2023. This had a large hand in lowering his average depth of target by over two yards, while somewhat condensing his route tree as he loses a bit of a step from his peak years.

How Stefon Diggs Fits in New England

No one would argue that 2025 Diggs is quite 2020 Diggs, and we’re not very likely to see Drake Maye driving the ball deep down the field with much consistency to his new weapon, but that doesn’t mean he’s not a great fit for his new quarterback. Where he’s far more likely to make a consistent impact, particularly if he continues to see heightened slot usage, is in the intermediate areas of the field.

And, oh boy, will he be an immediate improvement.

*Passes 10-19 yards downfield

The numbers speak loudly; Diggs is a massive upgrade on the intermediate options the Patriots have/had at their disposal, and what’s more, nothing is stopping them from giving him more looks along the perimeter than the Texans gave him last season. With Dell and Collins being such threats from the outside, Diggs had a very specific role in Houston. In New England? The story is different.

The Patriots are (hopefully) all but guaranteed to be taking a new wideout through the first two rounds of the NFL Draft, but that shouldn’t lock Diggs into a slot-only role. They still have both Hunter Henry and Austin Hooper on the squad, and could run plenty of 2-TE sets with offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels back in Foxborough, and there’s no way they’re keeping Diggs on the sideline in two-wide sets after paying him essentially $23M/year.

Still, it’s fair to wonder exactly how high the veteran’s out-wide rate is going to be in 2025. With the Texans settling on Diggs after pursuing Keenan Allen last offseason, and the Patriots attempting to snag Chris Godwin no more than a month ago, NFL teams have tipped their hat as to how they see the aging veteran fit into their scheme.

Fantasy Outlook for the Patriots’ Pass-Catchers

New England is absolutely taking at least one pass-catcher with legitimate draft capital, so projecting the Patriots’ fantasy potential behind Diggs is a little iffy. Even if he ends up being more of a one-year rental than a three-year plan for quarterback Drake Maye, it would likely behoove the team to bring in an outside receiver who can give some pop along the perimeter.

Unless they drop down out of their current No. 4 selection, that will likely be somewhere in the second round (they currently hold No. 38). Receivers that would complement Diggs’ current play-style in that range include Jayden Higgins, Tre Harris, or Elic Ayomanor, with plenty of other options on Day 2 and beyond that could add a yards-after-catch dynamic that both Diggs and the rest of the Patriots receiver room are lacking.

Among the tertiary options that would see their fantasy value tank (even further) if they do decide to continue to bolster their pass-catchers is sophomore Ja’Lynn Polk, who is already nearly forgotten after a miserable rookie season. Along with Demario Douglas, Kayshon Boutte, Mack Hollins, and to a lesser extent, Hunter Henry, the fantasy outlook is dim for Polk in any but the deepest of leagues.

As for Diggs himself, he is getting a downgrade in offensive environment, but he’s also got free rein to control a ton of the target share if he really is good to go by Week 1. The ceiling is nowhere near where it used to be, but the floor should be fantastic, with 7-8 targets on a week-to-week basis, regardless of how big of a role a potential second-round rookie will have.

Bottom Line

• Stefon Diggs is clearly viewed as a versatile, heavy-slot receiver by the NFL at this point in his career, but there is still plenty of fantasy goodness left on the bone.
• The tertiary receivers in New England are basically undraftable in fantasy at this point and will receive an even bigger hit if the team takes another stab in the second round of the NFL Draft.
• This signing offers Drake Maye a consistent veteran option he can rely on to move the sticks, but keeps him somewhere in the streaming range for typical redraft leagues.
• According to current Underdog ADP, Diggs is coming off draft boards as the WR57, in the middle of the 11th round. This is already climbing as you read this, and rightfully so. He should be far closer to the WR3 range, and more positive news regarding his ACL as we get closer to kickoff will only strengthen that resolve.