After signing with the Washington Commanders, wide receiver Stefon Diggs is ready to become the impact piece that the offense needed ahead of 2026
After becoming one the best players to come out of the University of Maryland, wide receiver Stefon Diggs had multiple chances to continue his NFL career close to home. In fact, both Washington and Baltimore had six chances each to draft the Montgomery Village native in the 2015 Draft.
Baltimore would end up turning to Breshad Perriman in the first round, while Washington turned to Jamison Crowder in the fourth round before he carved out a role first with the team then across the NFL through 2024. Diggs, however, materialized into a fifth round pick after the Minnesota Vikings drafted him with the 146th overall selection.
Being passed over by his hometown teams left Diggs feeling like he had "something to prove" when he would face the two teams, and against Washington, it normally ended well after securing wins in four of his five matchups.
Fast forward now, the Washington Commanders announced the signing of veteran Stefon Diggs, added the missing puzzle piece to an offense that was debated to be maybe one more piece away from truly being a playoff contender in 2026.
To Diggs, the chance to ink with the hometown franchise marked a different feeling with a chance to now carry the chip to helping his hometown franchise aim for a Super Bowl.
"I know the city [is] behind me. I know I've got a support system here and I know I've got a love of love here," Diggs said after his first practice in a Commanders uniform.
Washington also had its own appeal.
"I love everything about home and the organization. They take care of the players," Diggs said, citing feedback from others he's played with such as defensive tackle Tim Settle in Houston or edge rusher K'Lavon Chaisson in New England. But the presence of a "great, young" quarterback in Jayden Daniels also stuck out to Diggs.
"I'm familiar with young quarterbacks. He's a star. He's a superstar," Diggs added.
The Commanders were a team linked to the 32 year old for roughly half of the summer given the obvious lingering need for additional star power at the position, but the front office was never in a rush to make an immediate move. Instead, allowing the coaching staff and front office to evaluate the wide receiver room through OTAs into minicamp then training camp offered a chance for other unproven pieces to emerge. The experience that Diggs now adds to the top of an unproven room loomed large throughout.
Diggs has averaged over 1,000 receiving yards through his 11 seasons in the NFL, including his seventh 1,000 yard season in 2025 despite playing a career-low 55% of snaps. It's the type of production that left head coach Dan Quinn confident that the "explosive plays" will materialize in 2026, along with keeping Diggs at the top of the available wide receivers through the latter half of the offseason. Washington was also reported to be evaluating another veteran in Keenan Allen, yet it was also known that if the market for Diggs did pick up, that Washington was in a position to be able to act quickly as the mutual interest became increasingly apparent through August.
Yet that patience was something that Diggs wanted in his free agency search once the NFL closed their investigation, allowing the veteran to do what "made the most sense at this stage in my career." What he wanted in his next team was clear: a championship.
"I want to win and I want to hold a trophy up. So what's a better place to do it than back home?" Diggs said.
"All I want to do is make people proud, make the city proud."
