-
Mike Reiss
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Veteran wide receiver Stefon Diggs says he took just one free agent visit — to the New England Patriots — before officially signing his three-year contract with the team Friday.
“I was considering a couple other places, but that’s all in the past now,” Diggs said at Gillette Stadium.
Diggs’ contract is worth $69 million, a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter, which is the range the wide receiver said he expected in terms of average per season, in part because he is coming off a torn ACL in his right knee sustained Oct. 27 while playing for the Houston Texans.
Editor’s Picks
2 Related
“I kind of figured [the contract] was going to be around that area, considering I’m coming off the injury, but also the fact that I’m one of the only receivers that had six 1,000-yard seasons consecutively [before the injury],” he said. “The production, it’s always been here. I can move the chains. I can do intermediate. I can go deep. I did that all throughout my career. My résumé probably speaks for itself, but it was more so the injury that would deter or make the money is what it is.
“I look at it definitely as an opportunity. What could’ve been, could’ve been. At this point I am where I am, and I’m thankful.”
Diggs, 31, was introduced by the team Friday and was joined by his mother, Stephanie, who sat in the front row as he answered questions from reporters.
He stopped short of setting a timetable for when he will be ready to practice but sounded encouraged with how his knee has responded.
“I’m ahead of schedule. I’m trying to stay ahead of schedule,” he said. “I’ve been pretty serious about the grind process, as far as the rehab and everything.”
Diggs said he has had only brief contact with second-year quarterback
-
Alaina Getzenberg
BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Bills continued their philosophy and offseason trend of signing their own draft picks to long-term extensions, agreeing to terms with cornerback Christian Benford on a four-year, $76 million contract extension, his agents, Hadley Engelhard and Jim Ulrich of EnterSports Management, told ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Saturday.
Benford, 24, was entering the final year of his rookie deal and now will be under contract through the 2029 season. The agreement is the latest in the Bills’ prioritizing retaining players who have developed into starters before they become free agents — “draft, develop and re-sign,” as general manager Brandon Beane says.
Editor’s Picks
1 Related
The sixth-round pick out of Villanova becomes the third member of the Bills’ 2022 draft class to sign a four-year extension this offseason, joining wide receiver Khalil Shakir and linebacker Terrel Bernard. The Bills have also signed defensive end Greg Rousseau (four years) and quarterback Josh Allen (six years) to extensions this offseason.
“Love Christian and excited he’ll be back this season, and we’ll see if It works out now, later, down the road, to keep him here,” Beane said earlier this month. “Which, again, you know by what I’ve always said, we want to draft, develop, and re-sign our own, and so excited that it will be here this year, especially knowing … we’re thin at the position right now.”
Benford has been a clear starter for the team over the past two seasons — he started five games as the Bills worked out the starting situation in his rookie year. He then took a step forward in 2024 and has developed into the team’s No. 1 outside cornerback. Benford has 34 regular-season starts in three seasons and has posted 5 interceptions, 25 passes defensed and 4 forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries.
The average annual value of the new deal on its own puts Benford’s average annual value tied for 13th among cornerbacks.
Signing Benford in part addresses the team’s biggest position of need at outside cornerback for the future. However, there is no clear starter opposite Benford on the roster with the draft less than a month away after Rasul Douglas became a free agent this offseason. In terms of depth at the position, the team traded 2022 first-round pick Kaiir Elam to the Dallas Cowboys this month and brought back Dane Jackson.
The remaining question mark among the possible extension candidates for the Bills is 2022 second-round pick running back James Cook.
-
Rich Cimini
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — Continuing to rebuild their wide receiving corps, the New York Jets signed well-traveled veteran Josh Reynolds to a one-year contract Thursday.
Reynolds, 30, will receive $2.75 million in guarantees, a source told ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler. He’s another experienced target for presumptive quarterback Justin Fields, but the Jets aren’t done yet at receiver. They need another playmaker to complement Garrett Wilson and likely will draft a wideout.
Wilson and Allen Lazard are the only holdovers with more than 27 career receptions, and there’s a good chance Lazard will be jettisoned as a post-June 1 release that would create $11 million in cap savings. They’ve already cut one key component from the group — Davante Adams, who was released before free agency in a cap-related move and later signed with the Los Angeles Rams.
Editor’s Picks
2 Related
Reynolds is like Lazard, 29, in that he’s a big receiver (6-foot-3), and their career numbers are almost identical — 233 receptions and 3,127 yards for Reynolds, 229 receptions and 3,077 yards for Lazard. The Jets recently gave Lazard permission to seek a trade — a sign they’re prepared to move on from him.
-
Jake Trotter
AS A FRESHMAN at Servite High School in Anaheim, California, Mason Graham lived too far away to go home between the end of class and the start of evening basketball practice. So Servite football coach Troy Thomas convinced Graham to utilize that free time by joining the wrestling team, which practiced in the afternoons.
That decision put Graham on a path to make history next month in a different sport, when he’s likely to become the first Michigan defensive tackle ever to go in the top 10 of the NFL draft.
Graham might not have the traditional physical profile of an elite defensive tackle. At the NFL combine, his arm length measured just 32 inches — placing him in the 12th percentile among defensive tackle prospects this century.
NFL teams don’t seem worried about the length of his arms, though. They’re focused on what he does with them.
“Short arms are worth noting, but realistically only concerning if it shows up on tape,” an AFC scout told ESPN. “If a player with short arms is constantly allowing their chest to be attacked or is frequently stuck on blocks, then short arms are a huge concern. That’s not the case here. Graham’s a highly disruptive player.”
That goes back to the Servite wrestling room, where Graham developed into a ferocious, two-time conference champion heavyweight grappler, honing the skills that would define him in the trenches: leverage, technique, toughness, focus and pure will.
“You see that now in his game,” Thomas said. “The way he moves and tackles — you can see all of that when he’s playing.”
Despite his short arms, Graham emerged as the most physically dominant defensive tackle in college football last season, earning unanimous All-American honors. According to ESPN Research, Michigan surrendered 4.6 yards per play when Graham was on the field last year and 5.4 when he was off the field. The numbers were even more pronounced in the run game, where the Wolverines allowed 2.6 yards per rush with Graham and 3.9 without.
In his final college game, Graham wrecked the high-powered offense of the eventual national champions. While plugging the middle, Graham led the charge in shutting down Ohio State’s vaunted rushing attack. He also logged a career-high seven tackles as Michigan, a three-touchdown underdog, stunned the Buckeyes 13-10 for its fourth straight win in the rivalry.
“He just physically [controlled] that entire offensive line,” said Wolverines defensive coordinator Wink Martindale, who coached almost two decades in the NFL before joining the Wolverines last year. “You can definitely tell his wrestling background with the way he plays because of his balance. He knows how to use his hands better than a lot of players in the league right now.”
Graham is now primed to become a defensive cornerstone for whichever NFL team drafts him. Other NFL defensive tackles with similar arm measurements have still thrived. Former WHEN GRAHAM WASN’T wrestling during football offseasons, he worked up to four times a week with Servite defensive line coach Kelly Talavou, a former What to know for the 2025 NFL draft
“Everybody that would listen, we were telling them,” said Les Fifita. “He was just unblockable.” Boise State offered, and Graham initially committed. But then-Michigan general manager Courtney Morgan and then-defensive line coach Shaun Nua kept tabs. Just a couple of games into his senior year, they convinced him to flip. Graham enrolled early at Michigan and skipped his final semester of high school. Many at Servite believed that had he stayed, he could’ve been one of the top heavyweight wrestlers in the state. At the time, Graham wasn’t sure how wrestling would help his football career. Now? It taught him “how to beat the other person” one-on-one, he said. Arguably nobody in this draft does that better — regardless of arm length. “I feel like I affect every snap, run or pass,” Graham said. “I feel like I’m a dominant player, one of the most dominant players in this class.” ESPN NFL reporter Mike Reiss contributed to this story