Patriots

Patriots

 All it took was one emoji. A MOUTHLESS emoji, no less!

The next thing you knew all of New England was thirsting after Vikings receiver Stefon Diggs.

The logic went that the 25-year-old Diggs – who just signed a five-year, $72M contract with $40M in guaranteed money – was unhappy after a 2-2 start in Minny. Meanwhile the Patriots, who just gambled and lost on Antonio Brown, remained in the market for a top-tier wideout.

Diggs, apparently, made surface sense. He plays football. The Patriots are a football team. What’s the holdup.

Well, the Vikings like Diggs.

And a league source with knowledge of the situation said Wednesday the Vikings have no plans to trade Diggs. Which makes more than surface sense. Even with Diggs moderately down in 2019 (he has 13 catches for 209 yards so far), the Vikings are a very viable playoff team in the NFC.  

Call it the Antonio Brown Effect. The Patriots went all-in on AB despite the fact he’d left two franchises and nuked the bridges in an eight-month span. Now, any receiver intimating displeasure is fair game to be ticketed for New England and there are people out there who will happily ring that bell whether it's happening or not.

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