Recent news that Stefon Diggs will not face punishment from the NFL following the not-guilty verdict on battery charges earlier this offseason opens the door for the veteran receiver to find a home before training camp.
One place where Diggs has been widely linked: the Washington Commanders.
Washington certainly has a need at receiver alongside Terry McLaurin. A Diggs signing would also bring the Maryland native home.
In a recent interview with FOX 5, Diggs was asked about the possibility of returning to the area where he grew up and attended college.
"I never realized how many fans [there] was back home until I was a free agent and people are like, 'Are you going to come back home?' Especially when they see me back [here]," Diggs said. "I've been living here for my whole life. I've been living here for 10 years. They was just like, 'Oh, we never see you.' I was like, man, y'all wasn't looking.
"It's a lot of hopes. We're kind of figuring out, working through some things. I did have a small piece of me like, damn, it would be great to come home and play and play in front of the fans I used to play in front of as a young adolescent in college and just kind of doing something for the city. That definitely would be a moment. Hopefully, things do work out. We'll see how it goes, but I'm kind of open right now."
Diggs admitted he's considered the possibility of playing in D.C., a short drive from where he grew up.
"100 percent," he said when asked if he'd thought about it. "That's one of the first things I thought about like, damn, if I wanted to come back and play for my hometown team. I just had that same kind of energy when I chose to go to the University of Maryland. So I was just like, damn, it would be a thing. It would definitely be a thing if that kind of worked out. So, we'll see, we'll see. We're not ruling it out."
The Commanders have a No. 1 in McLaurin and a host of question marks thereafter. Third-rounder Antonio Williams, Treylon Burks, Dyami Brown, Luke McCaffrey, Van Jefferson and Jaylin Lane round out the rest of the top of the receiver corps. After the Deebo Samuel experiment ended, Washington lacks a legit No. 2 to pair with McLaurin.
The assumption all offseason has been that the Commanders are waiting for the San Francisco 49ers to part ways with Brandon Aiyuk, a close friend of Jayden Daniels. As the Niners delay the breakup, the wait has gotten longer. Assuming San Francisco relents by training camp, that plan to add Aiyuk could move forward in time for the regular season. However, as the receiver has gone about a social media tirade against the 49ers, might Washington reconsider its stance, particularly given the track record of players who have sat out a season?
Diggs is coming off an 85-catch, 1,013-yard, four-touchdown season with the New England Patriots and proved he could still play. Aiyuk, meanwhile, hasn't set foot on an NFL field since Week 7, 2024.
