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(Photo by Jordan Bank/Getty Images)

The Kansas City Chiefs have a glaring hole on the offensive roster at the wide receiver position, but they are also a strong bet to land a prominent performer who remains available in free agency.

Stefon Diggs is on the market after playing one year of his $63.5 million contract with the New England Patriots in 2025. The campaign ended with Diggs as the team’s top pass-catcher and a berth in the Super Bowl.

But the Pats decided to go younger in 2026, inking Romeo Doubs away from the Green Bay Packers, which led New England to release Diggs following the seventh 1,000-yard season of his impressive 11-year NFL career.

Spotrac projects Diggs’ market value at $27.5 million over a new two-year contract, as the four-time Pro Bowler heads into his age-33 campaign. Connor Orr of Sports Illustrated predicted on Wednesday, June 3 that Diggs will ultimately land with either the Chiefs or the Los Angeles Rams this summer.

“The 32-year-old veteran, who played 17 games last season, caught more than 85 balls and scored four touchdowns for the Patriots, will be a valuable WR3 option for Sean McVay’s offense or a trusted fill-in for the Chiefs as the team navigates the increasing unreliability of Rashee Rice,” Orr wrote.

Chiefs Recently Got Good News on Rashee Rice Amid Troubling Offseason

Rice is currently serving a 30-day sentence for a probation violation stemming from a positive drug test that revealed the presence of marijuana in his system. The wideout is on probation due to his involvement in a multi-vehicle car crash in March of 2024, from which he fled the scene.

In a stroke of bad luck, or perhaps born out of incomplete information/ignorance of his pending punishment, Rice underwent knee surgery just days ahead of his sentence, which resulted in his immediate jailing.

As such, the wideout was unable to receiver the same type of rehabilitation treatment from medical staff that he normally would have following a semi-serious surgery likely to sideline him for two months.

A judge recently granted a request from Rice’s attorneys that the court allow him to receive healthcare at Parkland Hospital in Dallas, Texas during the course of his imprisonment. Rice will exit jail later this month.

The two other top options in the Chiefs’ group of pass-catchers are receiver Xavier Worthy, who battled injury concerns of his own last season, and tight end Travis Kelce entering his 14th professional season in 2026.

Rams Can Offer Stefon Diggs Strong Role on Super Bowl Contender

GettyWide receiver Puka Nacua of the Los Angeles Rams.

Based on the circumstances in Kansas City, even if Rice returns fully healthy come Week 1 in September, the Chiefs profile as a team that needs a reliable wideout who can offer the type of production Diggs can feasibly provide.

But the Rams are a strong candidate for Diggs as well. Los Angeles fell one win shy of last year’s Super Bowl and addressed its biggest roster deficiency by building out the secondary this offseason — essentially by plundering the Chiefs’ defensive backfield via a trade for Trent McDuffie and the signing of Jaylen Watson in free agency.

Then, earlier this week, the Rams made a blockbuster trade to acquire reigning Defensive Player of the Year and NFL sack king Myles Garrett from the Cleveland Browns.

At this point, the only real weakness on the L.A. roster is depth in the WR room behind stars Puka Nacua and Davante Adams, which a team-friendly deal for Diggs would address.

Max Dible covers the NFL, NBA and MLB for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings, Chicago Bears and Cleveland Browns. He covered local and statewide news as a reporter for West Hawaii Today and served as news director for BigIslandNow.com and Pacific Media Group’s family of Big Island radio stations before joining Heavy. More about Max Dible