To the surprise of some, the Green Bay Packers reached an agreement with wide receiver Christian Watson on a one-year extension Tuesday. The deal is for $13.25 million, according to NFL.com, and will keep Watson in Green Bay through 2026. The surprise stems from Watson currently rehabbing a torn ACL suffered at the end of last season. It shows the faith the Packers have in both the wideout and his recovery process.
Getting Watson signed through the 2026 season will have a domino effect on the rest of the wide receiver corps.Romeo Doubs is also in the final year of his rookie deal, like Watson was as of Monday. Doubs has proven to be more durable than Watson and has become one of Jordan Love‘s more reliable targets.
The big hiccup for Doubs came last year when he was upset about his role and skipped practice without notifying team personnel. Doubs was suspended one game, and head coach Matt LaFleur said at the time he didn’t think it would be an issue that popped up again.
“The one thing I’ll say about it is it’s a pretty isolated incident,” LaFleur said last October. “This has not happened with him before and I don’t expect it to happen moving forward.”
It hasn’t happened again, but in the back of their minds that first incident still exists. With the Packers getting a deal done with Watson who’s currently injured, it’s hard to not wonder what that means for Doubs’ future.
Green Bay has Doubs on the final year of his rookie deal this year while Jayden Reed and Dontayvion Wicks will be in the final year of their current rookie deals next year. It’s been widely accepted that it’s impossible for the Packers to keep all four for the long run, especially after the Micah Parsons trade and the salary cap ramifications that came along with it.
So, with Watson’s timeline now pushed back through 2026, the same time Reed and Wicks will be in their final year, it appears that Doubs could be the odd one out.
Keep in mind, Green Bay also has starting left tackle Rasheed Walker, starting right guard Sean Rhyan, and starting inside linebacker Quay Walker on the final year of their rookie contracts too.
General manager Brian Gutekunst has been adamant all offseason about wanting to keep Walker around for the long haul. If Walker gets an extension,that would leave even less room to negotiate with Doubs. Per Gutekunst, back in June:
My expectations are really, really high [for Walker]. The only reason we didn’t do the fifth-year option is a lot of the outside linebackers are calculated into that number, so it didn’t make a lot of sense. We’re going down that road with him [to negotiate an extension], as well to see if we can make that happen as well.
He hasn’t said that sort of things about Doubs during the offseason. And, on top of all the salary cap hurdles Green Bay will have to work through the next few years, they just went out and drafted wide receivers in the first and third rounds of the draft this April. That isn’t suggesting the Packers don’t believe in the current WR group, but it definitely sent the message that they believed it was a position that needed even more reinforcements.
Clearly the Packers want Watson around and trust that he’ll be the same player coming back from the ACL injury that he was before it. It’s hard to not be giddy envisioning what Watson and rookie Matthew Golden could accomplish together on the field given their ability to take the lid of a defense.
This deal provides Watson a cushion of another year of financial reassurance. Now he won’t have to come back from a torn ACL and feel the pressure of needing to show all 32 teams what he can do as an audition before hitting free agency.
A deal for Doubs could still be in the works; it would make plenty of sense. Doubs has been a reliable target on the field and emerged as a go-to guy for Love. Doubs may never be a true WR1 on a depth chart, but his floor is pretty damn high.
But it’s fair to question how realistic an extension is given that Watson got one while injured while Doubs is out there contributing right now. It’s also reasonable to speculate what this means for Reed and Wicks, who are both looking to find that consistency this year.
Watson’s deal was a bit of a surprise given his injury history. It wasn’t a surprise when you look at what he’s done when he is healthy and available. But that deal casts a lot of doubt on Doubs’ future in Green Bay and raises questions about Reed and Wicks as well.
