If Stefon Diggs’ interview with NFL Network over the weekend at the Pro Bowl Games is any indication, it would appear we may be in for another cryptic offseason surrounding the Buffalo Bills’ No. 1 wide receiver.

UPDATE, April 3: Reports say Bills have traded Stefon Diggs to Houston Texans: What we know

Diggs was down in Orlando after he was named to the AFC team as an alternate because Amari Cooper of the Browns pulled out due to an injury, and on Friday he agreed to do an interview with Cameron Wolfe of NFL Network.

During that conversation, Diggs was asked about what his future holds with the Bills which, I’m not sure why that needed to be asked, but this is some of what he said:

“Just this season in its total, rolling with the punches, first eight games and the last eight games, or nine games, or 10 games, however you dice it, it just was a different picture. And it’s something I had to get adjusted to as a teammate, just rolling with the punches, being the best teammate you can be, best player you can be, and keep growing from it.

“I feel like I take it day by day. Obviously, there’s a lot of changes going on, a lot of things going on. I can’t really put the carriage before the horse, you know what I’m saying? But I got a great offseason in front of me to put a lot of work in and kind of build around what we got and what we’re doing. I can’t tell you what the future holds, but I’m still being me.”

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So, if you break down that word salad, it seems to me that Diggs is acknowledging the obvious.

Yes, he wasn’t as productive in the second half as he had been in the first; there is some change happening in Buffalo because Joe Brady is now the full-time offensive coordinator and wide receiver Gabe Davis will likely leave in free agency; and Diggs is planning to work hard in the offseason like he always does.

But it’s that last little nugget - about how he doesn’t know what the future holds - that has reinvigorated the rumor mill surrounding Diggs and how he might be dissatisfied playing for the Bills.

Cutting through all that, here’s the deal: He knows exactly what his future holds. He’s going to be with the Bills in 2024 and that’s because in 2022 he signed a four-year, $96 million contract extension which guaranteed him $70 million and created crazy expensive salary cap hits for the next six years.

Diggs can tease all he wants, but the bottom line is that unless something totally off script happens, he’s not going anywhere because his contract is close to impossible to move.

First of all, the Bills still believe they are in a window to compete for, and win, the Super Bowl, so why would they trade or release Diggs who, despite his dip in production in the second half last year, is still their No. 1 wide receiver?

“He’s a No. 1 receiver, I firmly believe that, not wavering off of that,” general manager Brandon Beane reiterated last month.

But beyond that, if they were to trade or release him, the salary cap hit is absurd. Using figures from sports business website Spotrac.com, if the Bills move Diggs off the roster in any way before June 1 it would create an immediate $31 million dead cap hit for 2024. This in a year when the Bills are already about $52 million over the projected cap as they start the offseason.

If they moved him after June 1, the dead cap hit dips to $8.84 million in 2024 and they would save $19 million on the cap, but the cost of that maneuver comes in 2025 when they would have to swallow a $22.2 million dead cap hit.

And then there’s the matter of finding a trade partner. I could be wrong, but it doesn’t seem like too many teams would be all that interested in a 30-year-old receiver, possibly in decline, carrying a $28 million salary in each of the next three seasons, and a $22.5 million salary in 2027. Sure, they could re-work his contract, but the math is not great for the Bills, or the prospective acquiring team.

Part of me believes Diggs did the interview with NFL Network because he loves toying with the media and fans. Never was this more evident than last year when he acted a bit immaturely after the playoff loss to the Bengals, and then in the weeks that followed posted a few things on social media that sent speculation about his future with the Bills spiraling out of control, all of which was a bunch of needless drama.

Then he continued to stir the pot by skipping the entire voluntary portion of the Bills’ offseason workout program which was his prerogative because it is voluntary, though almost all of the players were there for some or all of it. And then it boiled to a head when he wasn’t on the field for the start of the mandatory minicamp in mid-June.

However, that fiasco was more coach Sean McDermott’s fault. He met with reporters before the first mandatory practice and said that Diggs would not participate. When asked if that concerned him in light of Diggs’ previous absences, McDermott said he was “very concerned.”

As it turned out, McDermott completely fumbled that situation and had to admit as much the following day when he explained Diggs was indeed in Buffalo, he had spoken with McDermott and Beane, and after that meeting McDermott gave Diggs permission to skip the first workout. Yeah, that was something.

On the second and last day of the minicamp Diggs was finally on the practice field, but the whole offseason of intrigue continued to fester until training camp because he declined to speak to reporters to offer his side of the story and perhaps explain why he skipped all the other practices. Once he finally spoke at St. John Fisher University, he downplayed everything as if it was never anything to be concerned about.

Are we headed down this path again with Diggs in the coming months? Who knows because it was tough to decipher what he was trying to say last week.

“I don’t know, I feel like you talk about with the money and all that type of stuff, I can’t control none of that,” he said. “I kinda just put my hat on and like I said, it’s a long offseason in front of me. As far as what the future holds, shoot, I don’t have any surprises for you right now. I get tired of the same story over and over.”

He’s tired of the same story, yet he’s the one who perpetuates the story.

Sal Maiorana can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @salmaiorana. To subscribe to Sal's newsletter, Bills Blast, which comes out each Friday during the offseason, please follow this link: https://profile.democratandchronicle.com/newsletters/bills-blast

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Stefon Diggs fuels fire for another mysterious offseason with Bills