![\"Tyreek](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2237486199-e1776040513308.jpg\")
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The New England Patriots are urged to sign longtime rival wide receiver Tyreek Hill for one very good reason.<\/p>\n
When they let Stefon Diggs<\/a> go, the New England Patriots<\/a> took a legitimate No. 1 wide receiver away from young franchise quarterback Drake Maye<\/a>, but the Pats have a key reason to take longtime nemesis Tyreek Hill<\/a> off the market in 2026 NFL free agency and put a marquee replacement on the roster.<\/p>\n The reason is spelled out by Matt Legros of Patriots Wire<\/a>. He believes the Patriots must consider Hill, despite the eight-time Pro Bowler being \u201cexpected to be out for much of the offseason due to the injury, which has contributed to him not being signed by a team yet.\u201d<\/p>\n That injury, torn knee ligaments, is one reason Hill was released by New England\u2019s AFC East rivals the Miami Dolphins<\/a>. Another reason might involve the perception 10-year pro Hill is past his best, an idea Legros rejects.<\/p>\n As he pointed out, the Pats \u201chave need for a volume wide receiver. Hill has not shown any signs that he is no longer capable of being that in the league.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s a compelling argument, even though the Patriots invested $68 million<\/a> to add former Green Bay Packers<\/a> wideout Romeo Doubs<\/a> earlier during this veteran market.<\/p>\n Tyreek Hill Can Be Another Stefon Diggs<\/p>\n The Patriots took a chance on Diggs after a serious knee injury<\/a>, and they were handsomely rewarded when he recorded the seventh 1,000-yard season of his career. Hill could do something similar, since he \u201cwent for 265 receiving yards last season with the Dolphins. The Georgia native was on track to record the seventh 1,000-yard season of his career in 2025 had he played in all 17 games of the year. The year prior, Hill recorded 959 yards across 17 games played in Miami,\u201d per Legros<\/a>.<\/p>\n As the latter pointed out, \u201cThe five-time first-team All-Pro honoree did not exhibit any signs of slowing down athletically last season. Like many elite wide receivers before him who suffered serious injuries in the prime of their careers, Hill deserves the benefit of the doubt as a player who has the potential to return to form in 2026.\u201d<\/p>\n Few teams around the NFL<\/a> know more about the threat a fully healthy Hill can pose than the Patriots. He tormented them in big games as a member of the Kansas City Chiefs<\/a> and remained a problem with the Dolphins.<\/p>\n At the very least, Hill often demanded special plans<\/a> from the Patriots to contain him. He remains a viable field-stretching playmaker who could adopt the same role Diggs grew into last season.<\/p>\n A role Doubs will need to take a big step up to fulfil.<\/p>\n Patriots Lacking True No. 1 Wide Receiver<\/p>\n Doubs is a clever operator who runs nuanced routes and possesses deceptive after-catch speed. What the 26-year-old doesn\u2019t boast is a credible track record as a No. 1 receiver, although the Pats are paying him like one<\/a>.<\/p>\n It\u2019s something the Patriots have already been warned about<\/a>, while they may also be concerned about Doubs\u2019 own injury history. He\u2019s dealt with ankle and concussion issues<\/a>, and Doubs has yet to start every game in a season since entering the pros as a fourth-round pick in the 2022 NFL draft.<\/p>\n All of this adds up to the Patriots taking a significant leap of faith Doubs will mature into Maye\u2019s primary weapon, the way Diggs did in 2025. It\u2019s a gamble made riskier by the untapped potential and unclear roles of other receivers<\/a> on the depth chart.<\/p>\n Signing Hill to a similar one-year deal to the one Diggs got a year ago would give the Patriots a proven commodity and big name for insurance. A pass-catcher capable of being Maye\u2019s preferred option in clutch moments and at the business end of this season.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tJames Dudko<\/a> covers the New York Giants, Washington Commanders, New England Patriots and Baltimore Ravens for Heavy.com. He has covered the NFL and world soccer since 2011, with bylines at FanSided, Prime Time Sports Talk and Bleacher Report before joining Heavy in 2021. More about James Dudko<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Patriots\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty The New England Patriots are urged to sign longtime rival wide receiver Tyreek Hill for one very…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":865218,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2050],"tags":[7,1167,249,2326,2094,6,208],"class_list":{"0":"post-865217","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-england-patriots","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-new-england","10":"tag-new-england-patriots","11":"tag-newengland","12":"tag-newenglandpatriots","13":"tag-nfl","14":"tag-patriots"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/865217","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=865217"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/865217\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/865218"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=865217"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=865217"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=865217"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}