Patriots
“When he’s rolling, he’s hard to stop.”
Patriots center Garrett Bradbury only crossed paths with Stefon Diggs for one season with the Vikings in 2019.
Fair to say, the star wideout made a strong impression on Bradbury, with the offensive lineman believing that Diggs — even at this stage of his career — is poised to do some damage in Foxborough in 2025.
“I was fired up to see him,” Bradbury told reporters at Gillette Stadium on Thursday of Diggs. “I was a young guy — and he was obviously a superstar receiver, so there were some things I can learn from him. And he wasn’t big-time, right? Coming to the NFL as a rookie, and you obviously know their names, and you don’t know if they’re going to care about you, talk to you, but he loved the o-line, and so had a good relationship with him.”
“Played against him when he was in Buffalo, played against him when he was in Houston. So, when I saw him for the first time, I was pretty fired up to see him, and his talent speaks for itself. So, it’s a good weapon to have.”
Both Bradbury and Diggs are expected to step into key roles for New England’s offense next season. While Diggs’ resume speaks for itself as a top pass-catcher in the NFL for nearly a decade, Bradbury is also slated to replace David Andrews as the Patriots’ starting center.
Diggs’ resume speaks for itself. The 31-year-old wide receiver recorded six consecutive 1,000-yard seasons from 2018-23 with the Vikings and Texans.
He was having a productive season with the Texans in 2024, reeling in 47 catches for 496 yards and three touchdowns before suffering a season-ending ACL injury after just eight games. At that stage in the season, Diggs ranked seventh in the NFL in catches (47) and was second on the Texans in receiving yards (496).
Despite Diggs’ age and his recent injury, he showed that he still had something left in the tank with Houston, as he was on pace for 100 catches for 1,054 yards and six touchdowns over the course of a 17-game season.
Even though Diggs suffered his knee injury in October, he is already taking part in drills at this stage of the offseason.
But beyond the production that the Patriots are hoping that Diggs generates in an offense with Drake Maye, Bradbury stressed that Diggs should help set the right tone on a rebuilding Patriots team.
“How competitive he is. And when you have these superstar receivers, I mean, Justin Jefferson, Adam Thielen, I played with some good ones, you want them to be like that, right?” Bradbury said of what stands out with Diggs. “You want them to have belief in their talent. You want them to want the ball. And when he’s rolling, he’s hard to stop. And so, it’s ‘how can we all work together?’
“We need to get him involved. I know the coaches are going to do a good job of that. But you want competitive teammates. I see that in Drake. Diggs, I saw that firsthand.”
Sign up for the Today newsletter
Get everything you need to know to start your day, delivered right to your inbox every morning.
