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Put Stefon Diggs in the category of people who won’t be surprised if the Washington Commanders have a bounce-back season.
“They got talent. They got a lot of talent,” Diggs said about the Commanders on Friday afternoon after his first practice with the team. “[Dyami] Brown, he’s been to a couple teams. I see that he has a lot of potential; he’s made some plays. Terry [McLaurin], obviously, Trey Burks, he was in Tennessee. He’s been in the league for a little while, too. And then, you got the young guys, [third-round pick] Antonio Williams can hoop a little bit. He’s got some game, and, hopefully, I can be a piece in that process that can kind of build this team and lead this team in the right direction because, at the end of the day, I just want to win.
“Winning is the main thing for me. We had a lot of that last year [with the New England Patriots], and I kind of want that to just carry over, and all I bring is my experience and the things that I’ve done and my leadership.”
Diggs, who was released by the Patriots in March, signed a one-year deal with the Commanders worth up to $12 million earlier in the week.
The partnership with the Commanders is a homecoming of sorts for Diggs, who grew up roughly 35 minutes north of Nortwest Stadium, the Commanders’ home stadium, in Gaithersburg and played college football for the Maryland Terrapins, whose campus is located roughly 15 minutes north of Washington’s home turf.
Coming off a 2024 campaign that saw Washington win a playoff game for the first time since 2005 and reach the NFC Championship Game for the first time since winning Super Bowl XXVI (1991 season), the Commanders went 5-12 in 2025.
Washington’s offense was 24th in the NFL in passing yards (184.1 per game), tied for 22nd in points (20.9 per game), 22nd outright in total yards (318.8 per game) and fourth in rushing yards (134.7 per game). Moreover, quarterback Jayden Daniels, the 2024 Offensive Rookie of the Year, was limited to seven games due to knee, hamstring and elbow injuries.
As for some of the Commanders’ offseason moves, they selected Ohio State Buckeyes linebacker Sonny Styles with the No. 7 pick in the 2026 NFL Draft and signed linebackers Odafe Oweh (four-year, $100 million deal) and Leo Chenal (three-year, $24.75 million deal), defensive tackles Javon Kinlaw (three-year, $45 million deal) and Tim Settle (three-year, $24 million deal), cornerback Amik Robertson (two-year, $16 million deal) and tight end Chig Okonkwo (three-year, $27 million deal) in free agency, among other moves.
Regarding Diggs, the 2020 All-Pro led the Patriots in receptions (85) and receiving yards (1,013) last year in a season that saw them reach Super Bowl LX.
The Commanders are Diggs’ fourth team in as many years, as the Buffalo Bills traded the now-32-year-old receiver to the Houston Texans in 2024, and he signed with the Patriots after the 2024 season. Diggs spent the first five seasons of his NFL career with the Minnesota Vikings (2015-19) before being traded to the Bills, with whom he earned each of his four career Pro Bowl nods, in 2020.
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