One can argue that drafting Matthew Golden in Round 1 of the 2025 NFL draft was the moment when the Green Bay Packers sealed Romeo Doubs' fate. Golden's presence added to a wideout situation that was already a logjam, and even with the latest salary cap projections, it doesn't make sense to spend top dollar on Doubs when already having Christian Watson, Golden, Jayden Reed, Savion Williams, and Dontayvion Wicks under contract.
Doubs did his best to emerge as the team's WR1 in 2025, leading the Packers in targets (88), catches (55), receiving yards (724), and first-downs (41). Of course, that performance heightened his free agency stock, with Spotrac projecting Doubs will garner a deal worth over $12 million annually, making the cost out of Green Bay's comfort zone.
Paying Top Dollar to Re-Sign Romeo Doubs Doesn't Make Sense for Packers
It's hard to justify paying the price to keep Doubs in town, and that's even more so the case with the Packers needing cap space for the future, too.
Despite playing six fewer games, Watson was only 113 receiving yards behind Doubs for the team's lead, finishing with 611 yards and six touchdowns on the year. This highlights the importance of keeping future cap space open to pay Watson when he hits free agency in 2027, or to find a legitimate WR if his performance regresses.
That's without mentioning how Wicks and Reed will also need new contracts after the upcoming season.
Doubs hasn't given the Packers enough consistent production to justify paying what he will demand on the open market. After racking up 124 receiving yards and a touchdown in an impressive Wild Card Round performance against the Chicago Bears, there's a good chance that another team will overpay for Doubs' services. The last thing that the cash-strapped Packers need is to get into a bidding war.
Geno Smith, Von Miller, Gabe Davis, and Mecole Hardman stand out as a few recent examples of players who rode great playoff performances to what eventually became overpaid contracts. If the Packers want to avoid a similar fate, they will let Doubs be another team's problem while spending any cash they could've spent on him elsewhere.
For the Packers, moving on from Doubs will also give Golden a far bigger opportunity moving forward. Even if he still has to compete with Watson and Reed for targets, no longer dealing with Doubs ahead of him on the depth chart would open the door for a more productive Year 2.
As tough as it'd be for some Packers fans to see him live, Doubs leaving in free agency could be best for both sides. Green Bay gets to open up a roster spot to see if someone like Golden is ready for a bigger role, while Doubs will get to prove if he can be a WR1 elsewhere with fewer mouths to feed.