Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen spoke with reporters Thursday during his first news conference since his club traded star wide receiver Stefon Diggs to the Houston Texans earlier this month.

“I guess that’s the nature of the business,” Allen said about the transaction, as shared by Myles Simmons of Pro Football Talk. “And going into [the seventh year of his career] now, it just kind of is what it is. I don’t get paid to make changes on the team. I get paid to be the best quarterback that I can be and try to lead the guys on this team.”

Questions about the relationship between Allen and Diggs arose during Buffalo’s home playoff loss to the Cincinnati Bengals in January 2023 and hovered over the Bills throughout this past season.

Diggs then recorded his last touchdown catch of the 2023 campaign in Buffalo’s Week 12 loss at the Philadelphia Eagles, and he committed a costly fourth-quarter drop in the club’s divisional-round playoff defeat against the Kansas City Chiefs.

“Yeah, I shared a text with him and got one back, just thanking him for everything that he did for me,” Allen said about reaching out to Diggs following the trade. “I’ll always have a spot in my heart for him and I’ll always love him like a brother and wish him nothing but the best.”

Despite multiple offseason departures that occurred before the Diggs trade, DraftKings Sportsbook still listed the Bills as the betting favorites at +160 odds to win the AFC East division title as of Thursday afternoon.

Such forecasts likely have to do with the fact that many believe it’s a matter of when, not if, Allen will win the first regular-season Most Valuable Player Award of his career.

“My lasting memory of Stef will be [that he was] the receiver that helped me become the quarterback that I am today,” Allen added about having Diggs as a teammate across the past four seasons. “And I’ll always thank him for that.”

Also on Thursday, DraftKings listed Allen second among the betting favorites at +800 odds to earn MVP honors for the upcoming season. One wonders if he’d give Diggs a shoutout while accepting that award in February 2025.