Doubs is easily spotted on the field because of the Guardian Cap he wears over his helmet.
Doubs is easily spotted on the field because of the Guardian Cap he wears over his helmet.Stacy Bengs/Associated Press
The Patriots have found a new target for Drake Maye moving forward.
The Patriots signed wide receiver Romeo Doubs to a four-year, $68 million contract with a maximum value of $80 million.
Doubs, who will turn 26 in April, stood as the best receiving option left on the free-agent market on Tuesday for a Patriots team looking for another top wideout after releasing Stefon Diggs last week.
Doubs — who spent the first four seasons of his career with the Green Bay Packers — is coming off a 2025 season in which he reeled in 55 catches for 724 yards and six touchdowns.
Here are four things to know about the Patriots’ new wide receiver:
Doubs could replace some of Diggs’ production on short-yardage throws
It remains to be seen if Doubs can completely replace the outright production that Diggs generated in his lone season in Foxborough (85 catches, 1,013 yards, four touchdowns).
But Doubs could excel with the Patriots as a valuable chain-mover who can bail out Maye in short and intermediate passing situations.
The University of Nevada product lined up all over the field during his time in Green Bay, both in the slot and on the outside. He has proven to be a capable deep-ball threat and reeled in nine catches of 20-plus yards in 2025.
If New England is looking for a reliable playmaker out of the slot, Doubs could also step into that high-volume role.
Doubs reeled in 14 of 19 catches for 188 yards and two touchdowns on slot targets this past season.
He also finished 15th in the league with 48 catches that went for a first down last season, per 98.5 The Sports Hub’s Matt Dolloff. At 6-foot-2 and 204 pounds, Doubs has the frame to operate out of the slot and gain yardage off both curls and crossers.
He’s an underrated red-zone threat
Doubs should also come in handy when it comes to converting in the red zone — an area in which New England’s offense labored at times last year.
Over his last three seasons in Green Bay, Doubs caught 18 touchdowns. As one of the featured targets for Jordan Love in 2025, Doubs snagged 10 of his 16 targets in the red zone.
Red zone scoring confounded the Patriots at times in 2025, with New England often relying on explosive plays to dole out damage.
During regular-season action, the Patriots scored on just 57.1 percent of their red-zone trips, 17th in the NFL. They were even worse during postseason action, ending just 33.3 percent of their red-zone treks with a TD.
He’s a proven playoff performer
Doubs doesn’t have a 100-yard receiving game during regular-season action, but he reached triple digits in two of his four career playoff games — recording 20 catches for 371 yards and two touchdowns in those four outings.
During Green Bay’s loss to the Bears in the wild-card round in January, Doubs posted eight catches for 124 yards and a touchdown.
He stormed onto the scene during his first NFL postseason game in 2023, catching six passes for 151 yards and a touchdown against the Cowboys.
After New England’s offense stagnated throughout the 2025 playoffs, a shifty receiving threat like Doubs could be a welcome remedy.
He’s known for the large Guardian Cap he wears on his helmet
Doubs has largely avoided major injuries during his NFL career, missing only nine games across his four seasons with Green Bay. But he has had a few run-ins with concussions.
After returning from his first concussion in 2024, he returned to the gridiron wearing a Guardian Cap, a protective soft-shell helmet cover that players are permitted to wear during games.
Per NFL data, the cap absorbs at least 10 percent of the force during a hit to the helmet — doubling to 20 percent if both players involved in the hit are wearing Guardian Caps.
Guardian Caps have not been widely adopted during game settings in the NFL, but Patriots offensive lineman Jared Wilson wore one atop his helmet for the final stretch of the 2025 season.
Conor Ryan can be reached at conor.ryan@globe.com.