Stefon Diggs is signing with the Washington Commanders, a big addition at wide receiver to give quarterback Jayden Daniels and the offense a proven commodity who showed last season he can still be productive more than a decade into his NFL career.
The Commanders agreed with Diggs on a contract for this season, according to a person familiar with the agreement. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Wednesday because the deal had not been announced.
Diggs, a native of nearby Gaithersburg, Maryland, joins Washington for a 12th year in the league and reportedly can make up to $12 million. He spent last season with New England, making 99 catches for 1,123 yards and five touchdowns in 21 games, including the Patriots’ playoff run to the Super Bowl.
New England released him in March, and the 32-year-old went unsigned in free agency while facing strangulation and other criminal charges in connection with a dispute with his former private chef. Diggs was found not guilty in May, and the NFL said in June that he wouldn't face any discipline after a review determined there was not enough evidence to punish him under its personal conduct policy.
The Commanders had a hole at the position, and they are banking on Diggs filling it. The in-house options of Treylon Burks and Luke McCaffrey would have put Daniels in a tough spot and likely made No. 1 receiver McLaurin deal with plenty of double teams this coming season.
Signing Diggs could rule out going after Brandon Aiyuk, a friend of Daniels' who is still under contract with San Francisco. Aiyuk said on social media in June that he would join Washington immediately if the 49ers released him.
Aiyuk remains on the reserve/left squad list out West, while Diggs is now in an NFC East that features receivers CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens with Dallas, DeVonta Smith with Philadelphia and Malik Nabers with the New York Giants.
Diggs previously played for Minnesota, Buffalo and Houston during a career that included him being an All-Pro selection in 2020, when he led all players with 127 catches and 1,535 yards. Since making his debut in 2015 after the Vikings took him in the fifth round of the draft that year, Diggs has 1,025 catches for 12,523 yards and 79 TDs in the regular season and playoffs combined.
That included the “Minneapolis Miracle” catch for Minnesota in the divisional round in January 2018. With 10 seconds left, Diggs leapt and evaded a tackle to score a 61-yard touchdown and beat New Orleans 29-24.
Off the field, it has been a more tumultuous ride, including getting fined more than $200,000 by the Vikings during his final season with them in 2019 for unexcused practice absences. Diggs was traded to Buffalo in March 2020.
Diggs led the Bills in receiving four seasons in a row, but sideline outbursts and cryptic social media messages were also part of his tenure before being traded to Houston in April 2024. A torn ACL ended his time with the Texans, and skipping a voluntary offseason workout got him off to a bumpy start with the Patriots before he turned out to be a reliable option for QB Drake Maye.
Cut in part because he was owed $20.6 million, Diggs now is teaming up with Daniels, who was taken one spot ahead of Maye when they went Nos. 2 and 3 in the 2024 draft.
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FILE - New England Patriots wide receiver Stefon Diggs walks off the field before the NFL Super Bowl 60 football game against the Seattle Seahawks, Feb. 8, 2026, in Santa Clara, Calif. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File)
FILE - Las Vegas Raiders cornerback Eric Stokes (22) covers New England Patriots wide receiver Stefon Diggs (8) during the second half of an NFL football game Sept. 7, 2025, in Foxborough, Mass. (AP Photo/Greg M. Cooper, File)
Tensions are rising in Lebanon, while U.S. President Donald Trump says a deal could be reached soon to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Here's a look at the latest developments in the Iran war and the wider Middle East on Wednesday. Full coverage can be found here.
For the first time in weeks, Israel's military told residents of an area of Lebanon to evacuate. The military said the warning for the village of Mansouri was in response to what it described as “a blatant violation of the ceasefire” by the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group.
The military later said it was conducting “precise strikes” in southern Lebanon. Lebanon’s Health Ministry said one person was killed and 12 wounded in an Israeli strike in the town of Tebnine.
The escalation came as Lebanese and Israeli negotiators met in Rome for a second day to discuss implementation of a deal under which Israeli forces are supposed to withdraw from areas they occupy in southern Lebanon in exchange for Hezbollah's disarmament.
A State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive diplomacy, said the second day of talks ended early “due to events on the ground” but could continue on Thursday.
A shaky ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah has largely held since June 20. The fighting erupted two days after the Iran war began when Hezbollah fired at Israel.
— Matthew Lee in Washington
Iran said Wednesday it's in the “final stage” of drafting an agreement with Oman over the Strait of Hormuz, and Trump said on Tuesday night that a deal could be announced this week. That could potentially reopen the critical waterway, ease pressure on the world economy and help bring an end to the war.
But the agreement is likely to be contingent on the United States lifting its blockade on Iran’s ports. The Trump administration has previously ruled out any deal that would cement Iran’s grip over the strait, which would amount to a major loss for the U.S. and a break with global norms.
Iran has insisted on some measure of control over the strait, saying it will not go back to being an open international waterway, as it was before the war.
The Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen said they fired ballistic missiles at two Saudi oil tankers, one in the Red Sea and the other further east, in the Gulf of Aden. They did not provide evidence and there was no immediate comment from Saudi Arabia.
A vessel sailing off Yemen in the Gulf of Aden reported a loud explosion nearby, the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said, adding that the crew was safe.
In July, the Houthis announced a blockade of Saudi shipping, putting at risk another key world trade route running through the Bab el-Mandeb strait, which links the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden.
Saudi Arabia has diverted millions of barrels of oil exports to the Red Sea since the Iran war choked off the Strait of Hormuz, on the other side of the Arabian Peninsula.
The U.S. has lifted sanctions on three Iran-linked companies. A Treasury official said it came after an appeal and was not indicative of any shift in U.S. policy toward the Islamic Republic. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to preview the sanctions.
One company is Fly Baghdad Airlines, sanctioned in January 2024 for allegedly providing assistance to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and Iran-backed armed groups in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. Sanctions also were lifted on Iraq Express and another Fly Baghdad-linked firm.
— Fatima Hussein in Washington
A Lebanese man reads a copy of the Quran inside a damaged house in the village of Zawtar al-Gharbieh, south Lebanon, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
A Lebanese man checks a destroyed house in the village of Zawtar al-Gharbieh, south Lebanon, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
Israeli military vehicles, left, are seen stationed among homes in the village of Zawtar al-Sharqiyah, occupied by Israeli forces, is seen from the southern village of Zawtar al-Gharbieh, Lebanon, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
A Lebanese man removes debris from his destroyed house in the village of Zawtar al-Gharbieh, south Lebanon, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
A Lebanese man points to Hebrew writing left by Israeli soldiers inside his destroyed home in the village of Zawtar al-Gharbieh, southern Lebanon, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026.(AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
