{"id":784163,"date":"2026-03-01T10:31:26","date_gmt":"2026-03-01T10:31:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/784163\/"},"modified":"2026-03-01T10:31:26","modified_gmt":"2026-03-01T10:31:26","slug":"new-england-patriots-to-release-key-receiver-from-super-bowl-run","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/784163\/","title":{"rendered":"New England Patriots to release key receiver from Super Bowl run"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thebiglead.com\/category\/nfl\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">NFL<\/a> is nearing the new league year. This not only moves the league officially into 2026, but it also sets certain requirements for teams.<\/p>\n<p>Some of those requirements include things such as franchise tags, option pick-ups, and trade finalizations. It also includes salary cap compliance.<\/p>\n<p>MORE: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thebiglead.com\/a-j-brown-expected-trade-timeline-revealed\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">A.J. Brown expected trade timeline revealed<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The New England Patriots are in a good salary cap position, but they may want more to get their team stronger. They are expected to do that as they will be releasing wide receiver Stefon Diggs, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcsports.com\/fantasy\/football\/player-news?playerNewsId=0000019c-a0c0-d89c-a1be-afdf849c0000\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">according to reports<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/default-1214-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-126965\"  \/><\/p>\n<p>Feb 8, 2026; Santa Clara, CA, USA; New England Patriots wide receiver Stefon Diggs (8) against the Seattle Seahawks during Super Bowl LX at Levi\u2019s Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>Diggs carries a $26.5M cap hit going into 2026. An outright cut will save the Patriots over $16M. Money may not be the only factor at play here.<\/p>\n<p>Diggs is currently facing felony strangulation or suffocation and misdemeanor assault and battery. He pleaded not guilty to these charges in court on February 13th of this year.<\/p>\n<p>MORE: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thebiglead.com\/aaron-glenn-embarrasses-fans-viral-nap-2026-nfl-combine\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Aaron Glenn embarrasses Jets fans with viral nap at 2026 NFL Combine<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The Patriots do have an alternative to releasing him. If Diggs agrees to a lower salary this season, they likely could keep him.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/default-1215-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-126966\"  \/>Feb 8, 2026; Santa Clara, CA, USA; New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye (left) and wide receiver Stefon Diggs (8) talk before Super Bowl LX against the Seattle Seahawks at Levi\u2019s Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<p>After all, Diggs was a key part of the Patriots\u2019 offense. He had over 1,000 receiving yards with four touchdowns in 2026.<\/p>\n<p>He helped the Patriots get to the Super Bowl, where they were throttled by the Seattle Seahawks. It is doubtful, however, that Diggs will agree to a paycut\u2013as most players typically don\u2019t.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thebiglead.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Enjoy free coverage of the top news &amp; trending stories on The Big Lead <\/a>\u2014<\/p>\n<p>NFL: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thebiglead.com\/4-blockbuster-nfl-trades-we-want-to-see-before-the-2026-draft\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">4 blockbuster NFL trades we want to see before the 2026 draft<\/a><\/p>\n<p>OLYMPICS: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thebiglead.com\/most-talked-about-olympic-romances-from-2026-winter-games\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Most talked-about Olympic romances from 2026 Winter Games<\/a><\/p>\n<p>NBA: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thebiglead.com\/andrew-friedman-other-dodgers-execs-get-new-roles-with-lakers-after-10-billion-sale\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Andrew Friedman, other Dodgers execs get new roles with Lakers after $10 billion sale<\/a><\/p>\n<p>SPORTS MEDIA: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thebiglead.com\/usa-mens-hockey-draws-huge-olympic-gold-medal-tv-viewership\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">USA men\u2019s hockey draws record Olympic gold medal TV viewership<\/a><\/p>\n<p>ENTERTAINMENT: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thebiglead.com\/katherine-short-cause-of-death-martin-short-daughter\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Martin Short\u2019s daughter Katherine tragically dies at age 42<\/a><br \/>VIRAL: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thebiglead.com\/pat-mcafee-gesture-team-usa-150k-gold-medal-celebration-miami\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Pat McAfee makes stunning gesture during Team USA\u2019s $150K Gold medal celebration<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The NFL is nearing the new league year. This not only moves the league officially into 2026, but&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":784164,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2050],"tags":[7,1167,249,2326,2094,6,208,531],"class_list":{"0":"post-784163","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-england-patriots","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-new-england","10":"tag-new-england-patriots","11":"tag-newengland","12":"tag-newenglandpatriots","13":"tag-nfl","14":"tag-patriots","15":"tag-stefon-diggs"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116153464199811109","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/784163","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=784163"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/784163\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/784164"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=784163"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=784163"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=784163"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}