Just when we thought Steffon Diggs would be on his way to find a fourth NFL team in four years. But this time, it’s not that. After being released from the New England Patriots despite a three-year deal, the wideout has just received an invitation from Tom Brady’s flag football tournament. 

Jalen Hurts, Joe Burrow, Jayden Daniels, and Brady himself will serve as the quarterbacks for two of the teams in the Fanatics Flag Football Classic. Now, the list of pass catchers is beginning to take shape.

On the wide receiver side, Diggs will be joining the mix. 

He’ll be lining up alongside names like Davante Adams, DeVonta Smith, Deebo Samuel, and DeAndre Hopkins, with veteran tight end Rob Gronkowski also part of the pass-catching group. On the ground, running backs Saquon Barkley, Alvin Kamara, and Ashton Jeanty headline the offensive talent pool. Defensively, the event will feature several accomplished names as well.

The event itself is being staged by Fanatics through Fanatics Studios, a joint venture with OBB Media in partnership with Brady and Fox Sports. The inaugural edition is scheduled for March 21 at BMO Stadium, where three 12-player teams will compete.

Two of those squads, Founders FFC and Wildcats FFC, will be drafted from a pool of current and former NFL players, global athletes, and entertainers. Brady and Hurts will captain Founders FFC with Sean Payton serving as head coach, while Daniels and Burrow will lead Wildcats FFC under Kyle Shanahan. The captains will draft their rosters from the available player pool on March 18.

A third team will come from the reigning world champions, the United States Men’s National Flag Football Team. The roster includes players such as Aamir Brown, Tyler Davis, Darrell “Housh” Doucette III, Nico Casares, Jamie Kennedy and Laderrick “Pablo” Smith, among others. Their inclusion sets up a direct matchup between seasoned NFL talent and the most accomplished flag football specialists in the world.

Several entertainers will also participate. Internet personalities and athletes like IShowSpeed and Logan Paul are expected to suit up, while Kevin Hart and Druski will be involved with the broadcast presentation of the event.

The competition will follow the same format expected to be used for flag football at the 2028 Summer Olympics, two 15-minute halves played on a 50-by-25-yard field with five players per side. All three teams will face each other in a round-robin format, with the top two advancing to a championship game.

For Diggs, the event offers a rare spotlight while he navigates free agency. Still, it comes with some risk. If he remains unsigned by the time the tournament kicks off on March 21, even a minor injury could complicate negotiations with potential NFL suitors. For now, though, Brady’s event provides the veteran receiver with a high-profile return to the field, even if it’s not inside an NFL stadium. That brings us to what the Patriots just walked away from and why.  

Why the Patriots cut Stefon Diggs, and what’s next

Stefon Diggs’ release, finalized on Wednesday, March 4, took many by surprise. This was a player who led the Pats in receptions with 1,013 yards and hauled in four touchdowns across 85 catches. But NFL.com’s Nick Shook called it “purely financially motivated.” The cap structure, not the production, drove the decision.

Diggs’ three-year, $69 million deal with New England carried a 2026 checkpoint. His cap charge was set to jump from $10.5 million to $26.5 million, with an additional $6 million in guarantees triggered by staying on the roster mid-March. New England moved before either number was locked in and saved a $16.8 million cap in 2026 and only added $9.7 million to 2027’s dead cap.

But was moving away from Diggs truly the right move for New England? Bleacher Report’s Kristopher Knox, for one, held up the production gap created by Diggs’ departure.

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“Diggs’ numbers might not have matched the three-year, $63.5 million contract he signed last offseason,” Knox wrote on March 11. “However, he was still New England’s most reliable perimeter threat and one of the most efficient receivers in the NFL. – The 32-year-old led the NFL in ESPN Analytics’ Catch Score by a large margin–Diggs had a catch score of 97, while George Kittle and Kayshon Boutte tied with a Catch Score of 91.”

But New England pivoted towards Romeo Doubs as a replacement. The 25-year-old WR arrives from the Green Bay Packers on a four-year, $80 million deal. Across four seasons, Doubs has yet to eclipse 750 yards in a single campaign. But the Patriots now have approximately $51 million in cap space and 11 draft picks in 2026 to address the gap.

One other factor at play was Stefon Diggs’ legal trouble. The veteran receiver faces felony strangulation charges for an alleged dispute with his personal chef and has pleaded not guilty. His attorney called the allegations “unsubstantiated and motivated by a financial dispute,” per ESPN. But other teams may already be ready to make their move on Diggs, despite the legal dark cloud hanging over him.

ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler identified two credible fits. The first are the New York Giants, who could pair Diggs with either Jaxson Dart or a new quarterback from the 2026 draft class. The Tennessee Titans were floated as the other fit, where second-year starter Cam Ward looks to leave a better impact this season.

“At age 32, Diggs will not be a top-of-market receiving option and might need to wait for the second wave of free agency,” Fowler wrote. “But his game held up well as a 1,000-yard receiver in 2025. He has played well with young quarterbacks in back-to-back years in Houston and New England, so perhaps joining the New York Giants with Jaxson Dart or the Tennessee Titans with Cam Ward would make sense.”

Across 11 seasons, Stefon Diggs has logged seven 1000-yard seasons. Even at 32, Diggs is notably one of the more realistic high-upside additions this offseason. For now, the Fanatics Classic with Tom Brady awaits. Beyond that, Diggs’ NFL journey seems far from being over.