Minnesota Vikings: 3 Reasons trading Stefon Diggs was the right move

2. Dedication to run-first offense

Since Stefon Diggs broke into the NFL with the Vikings, he had been a part of some top-notch wide receiver groups within the Minnesota offensive group.

Most recently over the past few seasons, the duo of Diggs and Adam Thielen was one of the tops in the league and was a potent combination for Kirk Cousins and prior Vikings quarterbacks to utilize in the passing game.

A few years ago in 2018, Minnesota hired John DeFilippo to take over as offensive coordinator, which resulted in Diggs experiencing one of his best seasons in purple and gold, putting up career-best numbers among multiple receiving categories.

But after DeFilippo’s departure following his firing from the organization, head coach Mike Zimmer and company were publicly dedicated to focusing the offense more around stud running back Dalvin Cook and the running game.

When Kevin Stefanski and Gary Kubiak were inserted into the coaching staff to take things over with the offensive game plan, Minnesota started to focus more on the ground game rather than the passing attack. That didn’t go over well for Diggs and sparked some of his frustration and displeasure with his role within the team.

That dedication to the run game resulted in few targets for Diggs and ultimately a drop in production overall. Even after he signed an extension in Minnesota, the wideout still wasn’t happy with his role and thought he should have been utilized more.

There was likely a handful of reasons why Diggs wanted to part ways with the Vikings and get a fresh start somewhere else, but Minnesota’s dedication to the running game and Diggs’ displeasure and eventual locker room distraction that resulted from that was another reason why it was time to move on from him this offseason.