![\"Broncos](\"https:\/\/news2.watchtowatch.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/skysports-stefon-diggs-houston-texans_6732305.jpg\")
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The Denver Broncos\u2019 quest to build out their roster has not ended, but one of the moves they did not make has come back to light. According to a new report, the Broncos had designs on signing veteran wide receiver Stefon Diggs this past offseason.<\/p>\n
Diggs ultimately signed with the\u00a0New England Patriots, who were playing the\u00a0New York Jets\u00a0on \u201cThursday Night Football\u201d when the news dropped.<\/p>\n
A lot of time has passed since then, but it paints a clear picture of the Broncos\u2019 plans.<\/p>\n
GettyStefon Diggs #8 of the New England Patriots celebrates a TD against the\u00a0Carolina Panthers.<\/p>\n
NFL\u00a0Network\u2019s Ian Rapoport joined the pregame show before the Patriots\u2019 game and detailed what went into New England signing Diggs, including beating out the Broncos for the four-time Pro Bowler and 2020 First Team All-Pro\u2019s services.<\/p>\n
Diggs, the No. 146 overall pick of the 2015 draft who has earned over $140 million in his career, signed a\u00a0three-year, $63.5 million contract\u00a0with the Patriots.<\/p>\n
However, fate may have brought Diggs to New England and Patriots head coach\u00a0Mike Vrabel.<\/p>\n
\u201cSigning Stefon Diggs was the end of a decades-long quest for Mike Vrabel,\u201d Rapoport reported on \u201cTNF Tonight\u201d on November 13. \u201cVrabel recruited Diggs out of high school, when he was an assistant at Ohio State. Didn\u2019t get him, was mad about it. When Diggs became available this spring, his agent sent video to the Patriots, just three months after the ACL tear. He was running, cutting. Good sign. Ahead of schedule. It came down to the Broncos or Patriots. Five months from passing a physical, the Patriots signed up. A big-time leap of faith.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sentimentality and outcome aside, the Broncos had financial reasons to avoid making the kind of investment into Diggs that the Patriots did. It largely has to do with their financial outlook and how the Patriots structured Diggs\u2019 deal.<\/p>\n
Diggs entered Thursday\u2019s contest with 50 receptions for 554 yards and 3 touchdowns, which would have ranked first, second, and third, respectively, on the Broncos.<\/p>\n
He finished the contest, a 27-14 Patriots win, with a 9-105-0 line.<\/p>\n
GettyStefon Diggs #8 of the New England Patriots looks on before facing the\u00a0Buffalo Bills.<\/p>\n
Diggs, 31, has an $8.7 million cap hit this season, which the Broncos \u2013 who\u00a0Over The Cap says have $4.6 million\u00a0in space \u2013 could have worked to make room for. However, his cap hit jumps to $26.5 million in 2026 and 2027.<\/p>\n
Again, the Broncos could have squeezed those dollar amounts in with projections of $47.6 million in space in 2026 and $68.6 million in 2027.<\/p>\n
However, they signed\u00a0Courtland Sutton\u00a0to a\u00a0four-year, $92 million extension\u00a0this past summer.<\/p>\n
That is a lot of capital to invest into the wide receiver position, even with\u00a0Bo Nix\u00a0on a cost-controlled rookie-scale contract. Instead, the Broncos will pay a combined $38 million for the trio of\u00a0Evan Engram\u00a0at tight end and defensive players\u00a0Dre Greenlaw\u00a0and\u00a0Talanoa Hufanga.<\/p>\n
Diggs has missed more than two games in a single season three times in his career, and just once (2024) since the 2016 season.<\/p>\n
The Broncos have leaned on their young receivers,\u00a0Marvin Mims,\u00a0Pat Bryant, and\u00a0Troy Franklin.<\/p>\n
They were also\u00a0linked to wide receivers before the trade deadline, which could underscore the veracity of Rapoport\u2019s report.<\/p>\n
The Pittsburgh Penguins have had many a pleasant surprise over their first 17 games. They\u2019ve gotten a lot of life out of mid-level free agent signings like Justin Brazeau, Anthony Mantha and Parker Wotherspoon. Arturs Silovs has looked the part of an NHL goalie. Tristan Jarry and even Ryan Graves have started upon redemption journeys, no matter how modest or long-lasting they might be. Evgeni Malkin has seemingly turned back the hands of time. Erik Karlsson is playing like he has something to prove. Sidney Crosby is, well, you can\u2019t be too surprised that he\u2019s still the best player on the ice most nights but at 38 it\u2019s still something to see.<\/p>\n
The progression of Ben Kindel, however, is arguably their finest and most pleasant surprise of all so far. No one had him even close to the NHL radar in 2025-26 (though, hey, at least we were able to\u00a0raise the possibility of the unexpected)<\/p>\n
Those seven other forwards who fit in the category are Zach Benson, Cole Sillinger, Ryan O\u2019Reilly, Patrice Bergeron, Dustin Brown, Justin Williams and Sykora. Of those, only the first two have had their rookie seasons in the last 15 years.<\/p>\n
Not only is Kindel making it, he\u2019s excelling. It\u2019s early, small sample, blah blah but Kindel has stepped right in and looked the part of a player who can drive his own line and now has stepped up to the first line to play on the wing. Kindel\u2019s two-way play was touted coming out of the WHL just as much as his ability to produce points and that has been the case thus far in his first 15 NHL games.<\/p>\n
Of the others, here are some stat lines for their rookie years:<\/p>\n
These players, of course, were far from finished products even though it is rare to even show enough to stick in the NHL from this age without being a top-10 draft pick. One commonality amongst these players seems to be a defensive conscious, Beregron won six Selke trophies in his career, O\u2019Reilly has won the award once. Brown and Sykora picked up Selke votes in their careers and were known as reliable players off the puck, as was Williams. It wouldn\u2019t be a surprise if Kindel joins them to at least find his name on Selke ballots in the future if he eventually grows into a penalty killing center as his career blossoms. That makes sense on the surface level, if a young player is going to make it right off the bat they have to instantly create some trust away from the puck and demonstrate a good compete and detail level to their game beyond their young age.<\/p>\n
As the stats above show, there\u2019s a lot more offensive upside for the players to find. Most of the rookies ended up in the 25-30ish point range as draft+1 NHLers and almost all of them eventually found their game grow into being 60+ players (including Benson, who got to 60 in his second season). That hasn\u2019t always been the case \u2014 Sillinger has no more than 33 points over his four NHL seasons and may never reach the levels that just about everyone else did but the track record there is fairly strong and shows a clear path about a promising future is ahead for young Kindel.<\/p>\n
Of course, one doesn\u2019t need this article to realize all of that, the eye test is showing in spades the impressiveness in Kindel\u2019s game. It was only a month ago when the Pens\u2019 coaches\u00a0had a plan\u00a0to cycle Kindel out as a healthy scratch at times to keep him from getting overloaded. Plans can change, Kindel has played the last eight games in a row and more all the time (scoring five points and averaging 16:30 per game while playing more minutes each game in the last four games than he played in all of his first 11). The scratches have gone away because there hasn\u2019t been a need lately to give him time off.<\/p>\n
Kindel has been able to handle what the Pens have asked, whether that\u2019s been centering his own line or now moving up to play wing with Crosby. For someone drafted outside of the top-10 and won\u2019t turn 19 until after the regular season ends that could be the biggest and best surprise of them all this season in Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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