GREEN BAY, Wis. — If you've been around the block a few times, you know that you can never take a general manager's words at face value.
That same ideology applies with the Green Bay Packers and Brian Gutekunst, who has mastered the art of answering questions without actually answering them. When he says that the door is still open for Romeo Doubs to return to the team with a new contract, that may or may not be true, but all logical reasoning can safely lead you to the latter.
The Packers adore Doubs and, by all accounts, he's respected and admired within the locker room, amongst the coaching staff and among his peers. He's been one of the team's most productive wideouts each year that Jordan Love has been the Packers' starting quarterback. He led the Packers in targets in 2023, ranked third on the team in 2024 and led for a second time this past season in addition to finishing No. 1 in both receptions and receiving yardage. Doubs has also blossomed into Love's third-down security blanket over the past two seasons, hauling in 30 receptions—26 of which went for first-down yardage—for 439 yards and five touchdowns.
"We're still kind of going through that process," Gutekunst said this week at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis. "Romeo's done a fantastic job for us over his four years with the Green Bay Packers; very consistent and his work ethic is second to none."
Romeo Doubs high-points the ball in a game against the Cincinnati Bengals on Oct. 12. (Photo: USA TODAY Sports)
Of course, a player and person like Doubs is always welcomed back in Green Bay, but financially, it simply may not be feasible. The Packers are still just north of $1.5 million dollars over the cap—a dilemma that they have less than three weeks to improve before the start of the new league year in March—and will have to allocate their limited resources to other more critical areas of their roster.
They declined linebacker Quay Walker's fifth-year option but picked up defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt's, positioning Walker to be a free agent while Wyatt, who is expected to be extended, is still under contract for 2026. Tight end Tucker Kraft is coming off of a torn anterior cruciate ligament, but he's due for an extension as he enters the final year of his rookie deal. The Packers may also want to retain players such as offensive lineman Sean Rhyan and defensive end Kingsley Enagbare; Rhyan, who began the season as a guard, transitioned into the full-time starting center after Elgton Jenkins sustained a season-ending lower-leg fracture. With those decisions looming, the Packers don't want to be backed into a corner when it comes to free agency, either.
The Packers knew that Doubs, a former fourth-round pick, was going to be playing on an expiring rookie contract in 2025 before hitting unrestricted free agency. They invested second and fifth-round picks into Jayden Reed and Dontayvion Wicks, respectively, as well as first and third-round picks into Matthew Golden and Savion Williams. They issued a one-year contract extension to Christian Watson at the beginning of the 2025 regular season on top of the one year he already had remaining on his rookie deal.
That extension was a showing of good faith from the Packers' front office, who wanted to provide Watson an opportunity to fully rebound from the torn anterior cruciate ligament he sustained at the conclusion of the 2024 campaign. Once he was activated from the physically unable to perform list in time for the Packers' primetime bout with the Pittsburgh Steelers on Oct. 26, Watson played the remaining 10 regular-season contests and their lone playoff game, catching 38 passes for 647 yards and seven touchdowns. Watson not only returned to form—he exceeded that, just as the Packers had hoped, setting himself up for a payday that is expected to come courtesy of the Packers.
Include the fact that the Packers want to emphasize getting Golden the ball next season and you'll be hard-pressed to find a true place for Doubs in the pecking order.
Elgton Jenkins (left) is projected to be a cap casualty for the Packers this offseason. (Photo: USA TODAY Sports)
"Again, we'd love to have him back," Gutekunst said. "And if we do, he'll be a big part of our football team. And if we don't, I'm sure he'll be very successful wherever he goes."
The more that Gutekunst and the Packers play coy and entertain the idea that they're working to retain Doubs, the more another team will be willing to pay to pry him away. The bigger contract Doubs gets, the better compensatory draft pick that the Packers will receive next year. They're already expected to receive relatively high 2027 compensatory picks for the departures of quarterback Malik Willis and starting left tackle Rasheed Walker this spring.
In what may have been his final game for the Packers, Doubs turned in an eight-catch, 124-yard performance with a touchdown against the Chicago Bears in the Wild Card round. Doubs was on the receiving end of a 34-yard completion late in the fourth quarter as well as two heads-up plays—he recovered a Watson fumble in the end zone to preserve a touchdown and then knocked the ball out of bounds on a ridiculous, six-yard completion to offensive tackle Darian Kinnard, who fumbled it.
Zachary Jacobson is the Editor-in-Chief of Packer Report. He is entering his 12th season covering theGreen Bay Packers. He is a member of thePro Football Writers of America. Follow him on Twitter@zacobson or contact him via email atitszachariahj@gmail.com