NFL analysts said in March what every Patriots fan knew when the team surprisingly signed free agent wide receiver Stefon Diggs, who turns 32 in November and continues to work his way back from 2024 ACL surgery.

Yes, New England definitely took on some risk with Diggs’ three-year, $63.5 million contract, but most felt it was a risk well worth taking for a team in desperate need of a veteran, No. 1 wide receiver for young quarterback Drake Maye.

“There were basically no other options,” Chad Graff of The Athletic wrote at the time. “The trade market was barren. The draft class was weak at wide receiver. Simply put, it was a bad offseason to need a top-end wide receiver.”

Diggs was among 12 Patriots players who were held out of Friday night’s preseason opening win over the Commanders.

The team is staying cautious with its new No. 1 wide out, who has worked hard to avoid the physically unable to perform list and be a full participant since the start of training camp.

It’s still early, and Diggs certainly wore out his welcome in previous stints with Minnesota and Buffalo. But the Patriots’ top offseason gamble might already be paying dividends.

Stefon Diggs continues to prove he’s a leader, both in Foxboro and beyond

Diggs made his presence felt immediately on Day 1 of camp, flashing some early chemistry with Maye. Patriots receiver DeMario Douglas probably captured it best when he told reporters: “He’s probably the one who brings out that attitude in the room. We’ve got a lot of quiet right now in the room, but he’s going to bring that dawg out.”

Those leadership qualities aren’t only being felt by New England’s young WR group.

Green Bay Packers wide out Christian Watson, who tore his ACL in early January of this year, recently told reporters that he reached out to Diggs about his strong and timely recovery.

“Obviously it’s different for everybody, so I kinda just try to run my own race with it,” Watson said. “But I talked to Stefon Diggs, you know, about his recovery process. I trained down in Davie (Florida) with the same people that he was training with, you know, rehabbing with. That went really well. So I kind of talked to him when I was first getting into the process. Obviously, it was going really smooth for him. I kind of picked his brain a little bit. Aside from that, I’ve really just been running my own race.”

We’ll get a better feel for things when the games start counting in September.

But if Diggs can stay healthy, keep bringing the energy, and end up being the reliable veteran this offense sorely needs, the ROI on one of New England’s boldest offseason moves will be there in 2025.