Will Stefon Diggs' Knee Delay His 2025 Start?

What They're Saying

Graff on the "best-case" scenario for this year's Patriots WR corps: "For the true best-case scenario, Diggs has to come back from injury (maybe reasonably in Week 4) and be a reliable top target for Maye, the kind of guy a young quarterback can turn to behind a potentially shaky offensive line."

2025 Fantasy Football Impact

It's not clear whether Graff is assuming or working from team info in his Diggs timeline. But he's been an NFL beat writer with The Athletic since 2018 and on the Patriots beat since 2022. So it's probably not totally fabricated.

Of course, we're still in May. So there's likely no one who truly knows right now when we can expect Diggs to return to game action.

Consider this a reminder that the veteran isn't a lock to be ready for Week 1 -- despite the heavy free-agent investment for arguably the league's most WR-needy franchise.

Diggs' contract is structured to make him a potential cut candidate as soon as 2026, though. Perhaps that points to New England's hope -- in the immediate wake of checking out that repaired knee -- that Diggs can help right away.

Other Winners & Losers

If Diggs isn't ready for the start of the season, the biggest winner could be WR Demario Douglas.

The third-year receiver endured a disappointing sophomore season after delivering surprising contributions as a sixth-round rookie. He and the whole offense get a coaching upgrade this year, though, in OC Josh McDaniels' return.

It's possible, even, that New England wants to move Diggs back primarily to the outside and work Douglas as the main slot man. Diggs spent 52.8% of his pass snaps in the slot for Houston last year, his largest slot share since 2016 -- by a wide margin.

We'll be watching this whole WR group -- and the TEs -- to see who claims roles, who's ready for Week 1, and who's drawing QB Drake Maye's favor.