Houston Texans executive vice president and general manager Nick Caserio is a knowledgeable man with an excellent vocabulary, which he occasionally shows off.
Yet, during his pre-draft press conference at NRG Stadium on Thursday, one word seemed to stump him when a reporter asked him about the label associated with newly acquired wide receiver Stefon Diggs, “Diva.”
“I don’t even know what that definition means,” Caserio responded. “Again, we’re not worried (about Diggs’s past). “We’re worried about what a player does when he walks into the building. We do our research, and we talk to players and other players all the time.
“So, we do our research, and ultimately, DeMeco [Ryans] and I sit and talk, and if we feel comfortable with the discussion, we go ahead and make the decision. Candidly, I think it’s unfair to label anybody until they actually have an opportunity to walk into the building.”
Diggs, 31, has been characterized as a “Prima Donna” by some NFL media members and fans of his former teams, Minnesota Vikings and Buffalo Bills, where his exit from both situations was not in his favor.
In his final season with the Vikings, it was reported that Diggs often had anger outbursts on the field and missed team meetings and practices for non-injury-related issues.
After leaving the Vikings, he admitted to reporters that he was a good teammate until he no longer wanted to be with the team. He was receptive to the criticism he received from the fans when he was traded to Buffalo in March 2020.
Things seemed to be going great during Diggs’s first season with the Bills, as he and superstar quarterback Josh Allen seemed to be on the same page offensively. His 127 receptions, 1,535 yards receiving, and eight touchdowns earned him a First-Team All-Pro and Pro Bowl selection after the 2020 season. Even though they lost in the divisional round of the playoffs to the Kansas City Chiefs, Buffalo was a prime contender to defeat the perennial AFC favorite Chiefs heading into the 2021 NFL season.
Three seasons later, Diggs and the Bills were on rocky terms despite the façade that everything was fine. The two parted ways this past offseason when the Texans traded a 2024 sixth-round pick (No. 189 overall) and a 2025 fifth-round selection in exchange for Diggs and a second-round selection in 2025.
With a fresh start in Houston, Diggs will have a chance to prove to head coach DeMeco Ryans and Caserio that they made the right decision by acquiring him to play with their young core of offensive talent that includes quarterback C.J. Stroud and wide receivers Nico Collins and Tank Dell.
“He’s been a great player in this league for a long time,” said Ryans about Diggs on Monday. “He is well-respected. He’s been a great teammate; he’s been a leader and a captain. When you look at him and when you watch the tape, no one doubts the playmaker that he is. He changes games for the teams he’s been a part of, and we’re anticipating the same thing for us.”
 |
| Texans GM Doesn't Believe In "Diva" Label For Diggs |
The Texans also wanted Diggs to know that he was welcomed with open arms and proved it to him by eliminating the final three years of his contract and allowing the former two-time All-Pro wide receiver to become a free agent in 2025. It may have seemed like a very unusual move to others around the NFL, but not for Houston.
“Our environment is different than another environment, so we really don’t know what’s going on in 31 other buildings,” said Caserio. “We know what’s going on in our building. We are excited to have ‘Stef’ [Stefon Diggs] here.”
Although there has been no media availability, Caserio believes that the media will have plenty of time to get to know Diggs as the season progresses.
“Just started the off-season program,” Caserio said. “Like we’re not -- signed a free agent, bringing a jersey up here and do a big pow-wow. That’s not how we operate. We don’t believe in that. That’s just us philosophically. Other teams do it differently. We do what we think is right and are consistent on that.”