Who Should I Start? Stefon Diggs or Deebo Samuel

Tuesday, February 18, 11:32 AM

ESPN's DJ Bien-Aime writes that the Houston Texans are unlikely to use the franchise tag on wide receiver Stefon Diggs (knee) this year because they have limited salary cap space in 2025 and don't want to dump almost $26 million into an aging player coming off a torn ACL. Diggs will also be 32 years old in November. The $26 million this year would be a higher yearly salary than what No. 1 wideout Nico Collins makes at $24,250,000. It means that Diggs might be one-and-done in Houston after they acquired him in a trade with the Buffalo Bills last offseason, even though receiver Tank Dell also suffered a season-ending injury that could keep him out for all of 2025. In his eight games with the Texans, Diggs had a 47-496-3 line on 64 targets. Coming off a serious knee injury, it will be interesting to see what kind of market he'll have, but his landing spot will ultimately determine his fantasy value.

Monday, February 10, 6:11 PM

The San Francisco 49ers gave wide receiver Deebo Samuel Sr. permission to seek a trade this offseason. Samuel is under contract for one more season, and his deal includes a $15 million option bonus. Along with his drop in production in 2024, it could suppress Samuel's trade market, but NBC Sports Bay Area's Matt Maiocco lists the Buffalo Bills, Los Angeles Chargers, Washington Commanders, Pittsburgh Steelers and Houston Texans as a few teams that could be interested in acquiring Samuel from the Niners. The 29-year-old former second-rounder had career-lows of 3.4 catches and 44.7 receiving yards per game in 15 contests in 2024, with his per-rush average also dropping to 3.2 yards. Although Samuel is much more of an injury risk with declining production, he does have 42 total TDs in six NFL seasons and will draw interest from receiver-needy teams as a trade target.