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In one of the question and answer sessions he held with the Twin Cities media this week, Minnesota Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer said that wide receiver Stefon Diggs had already been punished for missing a practice this week. This morning, we got wind of what that punishment was.
Stefon Diggs is expected to play for @Vikings, but when he had unexcused absences from practices on Monday and Wednesday, and all mandatory meetings, he ran his fine total in excess of $200,000, per sources. Team stance: No trade despite inquiries.
— Chris Mortensen (@mortreport) October 6, 2019
According to Chris Mortensen of ESPN, the Vikings fined Diggs “in excess of $200,000” for missing practices on both Monday (which wasn’t widely reported) and Wednesday (which was), as well as all mandatory meetings. Mortenson also says that the team has reiterated that Diggs is not going to be traded.
Diggs’ actions could have given the Vikings a window to cancel the $40 million in guarantees in his contract, similar to what the Oakland Raiders did in their tiff with Antonio Brown, but the team chose not to go down that path. That’s probably for the best.
Diggs is active for today’s game against the New York Giants. . .news which shouldn’t come as any real surprise.