Stefon Diggs and Christian Barmore are active for the New England Patriots’ Week 18 matchup vs. the Miami Dolphins, but will they be available for the postseason?
Criminal charges were brought against both Patriots standouts last week. On Tuesday, Diggs was charged with felony strangulation or suffocation and misdemeanor assault and battery stemming from an alleged Dec. 2 incident involving the wide receiver’s personal chef. On Wednesday, court records showed that Barmore faces a domestic assault charge after an alleged incident involving the defensive tackle’s then-girlfriend on Aug. 8.
Attorney David Meier, who is representing both Diggs and Barmore, denied the allegations brought against his clients in separate statements. The NFL also addressed the situation, stating that “Pursuant to the Personal Conduct Policy, consideration for placement on the Commissioner Exempt List may be considered following formal charges in the form of an indictment by a grand jury, the filing of charges by a prosecutor, or an arraignment in a criminal court.”
Players on the Commissioner Exempt List can’t attend practices or games, but can participate in meetings and other off-field team activities.
So, is the exempt list a real possibility for Diggs and Barmore with the playoffs looming? What will the NFL take into consideration? Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated shared his insight Sunday during Patriots Pregame Live.
“We don’t have any public physical evidence, so my guess would be those guys stay on the field,” Breer said. “And then I think the second piece of this goes to the guy’s reputation. There’s no evidence that these guys are capable of anything like that, but these guys have had their problems.
“Diggs, of course, over the years, has been a little bit of a wildcard. He’s always been really well-liked inside the buildings he’s worked, whether it was Minnesota, Buffalo. Despite the problems with Josh Allen at the end, he was very well-liked in that building, Houston, and now New England. The more questionable stuff would happen when he left the building. Now, nothing like this, but we’ve all seen the headlines over the course of the last few months, and the Patriots had the incident that they had to deal with in the spring.
“Then with Barmore, he actually fell in the draft a few years ago because of character concerns. My understanding is those character concerns are really about two things. Number one, he had a little bit of a short fuse and that was something that the coaches had to manage. And then number two, there was a sense of entitlement there. A guy who’s a super talented guy, capable of whatever he wants to do on a football field, but didn’t always bring the effort.”
Should Patriots fans expect the allegations against Diggs and Barmore to sideline them in the postseason?
“Probably not,” Breer said. “There apparently are pictures in the Barmore case. If those pictures became public, then certainly I think it could rise to the level where they take him off the field.
“If some sort of evidence became public on Diggs, then that could take him off the field. Most of these cases, only two people really know what happened, so it’s foolish to draw conclusions until you actually know what happened, so you just take it as it is, which is, it’s a very serious allegation. It’s also a very serious thing to pin somebody with.”
The statuses of Diggs and Barmore will be pivotal for the Patriots as they enter their first postseason since 2021. Diggs leads all Pats pass-catchers in receptions (82) and yards (970) while Barmore remains one of New England’s most important defensive players.
The Patriots entered Sunday’s game against Miami with a 13-3 record, bouncing back after consecutive 4-13 seasons. They will earn a first-round playoff bye with a Week 18 win and a Denver Broncos defeat.