:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/65387342/usa_today_13439685.0.jpg)
After a 16-6 loss to the Chicago Bears on Sunday, WR Stefon Diggs left before talking to reporters, and didn’t speak to the media until today.
Today, he said a lot.
Basically, the rumors about Diggs being unhappy are true. They really ramped up yesterday when he was not at practice for reasons that were not injury related. Earlier this morning, Ian Rapoport led off today’s episode of ‘As The Vikings Turn’ with this tweet:
On #Vikings WR Stefon Diggs: His frustration with the organization has been palpable. He was not at practice yesterday for non-injury reasons. Teammates are left wondering if he wants to be there. The team is adamant he is not available for a trade, barring some massive deal.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) October 3, 2019
Then later Diggs met with the local press. Grab some popcorn, because we got some humdingers for quotes. To start off, he is happy being in Minnesota but is obviously not happy with the way the offense has performed:
Stefon Diggs on if he's upset about #Vikings offense:
— Chris Tomasson (@christomasson) October 3, 2019
“The space that we’re in right now is definitely is a lot of questions. I can’t sit up here and act like everything is OK because obviously it’s not but I can say at this point I’m just trying to work through it.’’
Diggs said he “loves it here” when asked if he wants to be traded, but did not say yes or no. Said he “has a role” in #Vikings offense, “but if you want to win and you’re not winning, of course you’re going to be frustrated.”
— Andrew Krammer (@Andrew_Krammer) October 3, 2019
He has NOT asked to be traded, though:
I asked Diggs flat out whether he has requested a trade and he said he has not. He followed up saying he was not aware whether his agent had, either.
— Courtney Cronin (@CourtneyRCronin) October 3, 2019
Diggs’ full answer on whether he has asked to be traded: “I haven’t communicated anything. Moreso the conversations I’ve had have only been about team and trying to have success on the field.”
— Courtney Cronin (@CourtneyRCronin) October 3, 2019
About his status for Sunday:
Stefon Diggs on if he’ll play Sunday: “I hope they let me play. I like football. I want to be a part of playing football on Sunday.’’
— Chris Tomasson (@christomasson) October 3, 2019
Asked Stefanski if he anticipates Diggs playing Sunday. He said, “We’ll see how it goes.” Repeated the same answer later. So ... we’ll see how it goes.
— Mark Craig (@markcraignfl) October 3, 2019
He’s said he has had conversations with ‘everybody’ about his frustrations:
Diggs: “I’ve had conversations with everybody at this point. Everybody.”
— Andrew Krammer (@Andrew_Krammer) October 3, 2019
Are you being heard?
“I don’t know at this point. With where things are going with the trend we’re at now, I’m not 100 percent sure. ... I’ve always been a team guy; put the team before myself.”
How has that turned out?
When I asked if he feels heard after talking to everyone - Diggs said “I don’t know”
— Dawn Mitchell (@DawnAtFOX9) October 3, 2019
So, do you guys want to hear my theory on all this? And let me state, just so everyone is 100% crystal clear, this is only MY opinion. I have no information from anyone inside the organization, or tied to the organization. I’m just trying to put pieces of this sad clown face of a puzzle together.
We good? Good. Here goes:
Diggs (and Adam Thielen, for that matter) stand to make a lot of extra money in contract incentives based on how they perform on the field. How much?
Diggs (and Adam Thielen, for that matter) earns an extra $666,667 for 2021, $750K for 2022 and $800K for 2023 every time he posts 100 catches or 1,375 yards in a season. He's currently at 13 catches for 209 yards.
— Ben Goessling (@GoesslingStrib) October 3, 2019
So his bank account is directly tied to how well the quarterback plays and how much he gets the ball. Right now, if you project his current stats into 16 games, it comes out to 52 catches for 836 yards, numbers well short of his contract incentives. Meanwhile, the guy who plays a pretty big role in determining whether or not those contract incentives are met is getting a guaranteed contract, whether he plays well or not.
Look, take the money away for a second, because that always clouds opinions because ‘millionaires playing a kid’s game’ blah blah blah. Let’s tie this to your job, for example. Say you had to meet a certain goal, and that goal is sales, contacts, cases filed...whatever your noble line of work is. The more you accomplish, the more you get paid. If you get to a certain level, you get a nice, fat bonus. You’d work your ass off to try and get that bonus if you could, or at least most people would. But now say your goals and that bonus were dependent on someone—they had to provide you some critical piece of information that allowed you to do your job, and they make more than you. No matter how poorly they do their job, they still get paid, and if they suck, you don’t get paid.
Now, if the Vikings were winning, I don’t think this would be a big enough deal to complain like Diggs is complaining. But the Vikings aren’t winning, and the offense looks like a jumbled mess in their two losses.
Anyway, four games in and the Vikings are now dealing with some drama the likes we haven’t seen in awhile. Winning cures a lot of what ails you, so a nice win Sunday to get back on track is really needed in a lot of ways.
Stay tuned to see how it all turns out.