Throughout his 12-year career, only two things have eluded Stefon Diggs.
The first was a chance to play for his hometown team. The second is a Super Bowl trophy, something he was 60 minutes away from obtaining with the Patriots last season.
After officially signing with the Commanders on Friday, the Gaithersburg, Maryland, native has achieved one of those goals — and he feels his new team can provide him with a chance to reach the other.
“At this stage in my career everybody knows what I want. I want to win, and I want to hold a trophy up,” Diggs said after a sweltering two-hour practice in Ashburn.
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“So, what a better place to do it than back home?”
The arrival of Diggs, who totaled a team-high 85 receptions for 1,013 yards and four touchdowns for the AFC champions last year, put an end to an offseason of speculation about Washington’s receivers room. Diggs only participated in a handful of snaps during Friday’s practice, but in time he will presumably slot in next to starter Terry McLaurin.
Diggs said he’s long admired McLaurin from afar, and he got a good first impression from rookie Antonio Williams.
“Fourteen can hoop a little bit,” Diggs said, referring to Williams’ jersey number. “You know, young guys don’t get a name in the beginning. Just call them by the number.”
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The Commanders have said all offseason that they are constantly evaluating the roster and open to bringing in free agents when they feel they need more competition at a position. They recently added vets at cornerback (Rasul Douglas) and center (Trey Hill), and that trend continued Friday with the signing of Diggs.
While Diggs’ 9,032 receiving yards since 2018 (third-most among wide receivers) was a big reason Washington made the call, coach Dan Quinn said he was also impressed by the veteran’s leadership skills and professionalism.
“People speak to the work ethic, the practice ethic, and so those are some of the things I’m very much looking forward to seeing,” Quinn said about Diggs before his arrival. “That’s who you are. It’s not something that doesn’t travel, and so we’re excited to add that type of competitor to our group.”
Quinn added that the team was “comfortable” bringing Diggs in after was found not guilty of assaulting his private chef in May. Diggs is currently a party in two separate civil lawsuits.
While there have been multiple times in his career that cameras have caught Diggs being an emotional leader on the sideline — for better or worse — the receiver said that, at this point in his career, he prefers to show more than tell.
“I can say a bunch of hoopla, but I’d rather just go out there and hoop and show you why I did what I did, or kind of just communicate through the actions,” Diggs said.
Even at his advanced (football) age of 32, Diggs still has the capabilities to be a game-changer on the field. Of the 20 players with at least 1,000 receiving yards last season, Diggs was the oldest and only one of two players (with Denver’s Courtland Sutton) over the age of 30. He had the highest catch percentage (83.3%) in the league last season, according to Next Gen Stats.
The 2015 fifth-round pick out of Maryland said he woke up early every morning and worked out at least three times a day over the past few months, hoping to be prepared for the moment he joined a team.
“I wasn’t really too concerned about the where,” Diggs said of his free agency. “It was just the when and how.”
The signing marks a full-circle moment for Diggs. He grew up a fan of the Commanders and said he had a chip on his shoulder when the team passed on him in the 2015 draft. While his motivations have changed over the years, he still believes he has that drive — and he hopes it will help him land the championship trophy he covets.
“So here I am back home, and I carry that same chip, but I’m a part of the team now,” Diggs said. “I got a lot of pride, and I try to put it to the side at times, but that chip is on the other side now.”
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