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Stefon Diggs of the New England Patriots
Former Buffalo Bills wide receiver Stefon Diggs has finally reached the Super Bowl, but the New England Patriots star could face a harsh punishment sometime afterward.
Diggs is facing criminal charges of felony strangulation or suffocation after a December incident where police say he assaulted a former personal chef in a payment dispute. Though Diggs was able to argue for a delay in the case until after the Super Bowl, he is expected to face some punishment from the NFL as a result of the charges.
Stefon Diggs Delayed Case Until Days After the Super Bowl
Diggs and his legal team asked a judge for his arraignment, originally scheduled for January, to be delayed until later. Boston 25 reported that a judge agreed to hold the arraignment on Feb. 13, five days after Super Bowl LX.
As Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reported at the time, the delay in criminal proceedings likely won’t deter the NFL from handing down its own punishment for Diggs — though not before the Super Bowl.
“It was already unlikely that the NFL would place Patriots receiver Stefon Diggs on the Commissioner Exempt list (i.e., paid leave) before the Super Bowl. It’s now virtually certain it won’t happen,” Florio wrote.
The league has wide latitude to issue punishment for players who face criminal charges, even if they don’t result in a conviction. That was the case for former Bills edge rusher Von Miller, who was suspended four games after he faced domestic assault charges.
But the timeline for these punishments can often be delayed, with Miller learned. He faced the accusations in late 2023, but was not handed down punishment until midway through the 2024 season.
If Diggs faces similar punishment from the NFL, it likely won’t come until sometime during the 2026 season, when the Patriots could be defending a Super Bowl title.
Nathan Dougherty is a sports reporter covering the NFL for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Buffalo Bills, Detroit Lions and Miami Dolphins. Previously he wrote for the Rochester Business Journal and served as the assistant editor of athletic trade magazines Coaching Management, Athletic Management and Training & Conditioning. He is based out of Rochester, New York, and loves everything football. More about Nathan Dougherty
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