Patriots trade for Eagles WR A.J. Brown. Here's how it affects their depth chart

The New England Patriots just got a major upgrade to their wide receivers room late into the offseason.

Wide receiver A.J. Brown is officially the newest member of the Patriots after the team completed a June 1 trade with the Philadelphia Eagles. Even in a season full of publicly voiced frustration with the Eagles, Brown finished the final year of his tenure in Philadelphia with 78 catches for 1,003 yards and seven touchdowns.

Those numbers are all comparable to the output of the Patriots' leading receiver in 2025: Stefon Diggs, who is now a free agent. Diggs finished the 2025 season with 85 catches, 1,013 yards and four touchdowns.

With Diggs no longer with the team, New England needed to upgrade its receiving corps for third-year quarterback Drake Maye. The trade for Brown is only the Patriots' most recent move. Earlier in the offseason, they also signed former Packers receiver Romeo Doubs to a four-year deal.

As the calendar turns to June, the reigning AFC champions' wide receivers depth chart already looks very different from what it did a few months ago. Here's a closer look at the Patriots' receivers room entering 2026:

Patriots WR depth chart

Here's how the top of the Patriots' wide receivers depth chart looks now that Brown is in New England:

• A.J. Brown
• Romeo Doubs
• Kayshoun Boutte
• Mack Hollins
• DeMario "Pop" Douglas
• Kyle Williams
• Efton Chism III

How A.J. Brown elevates the Patriots' passing game

Brown should immediately become the clear-cut No. 1 receiver in Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels' offense. Even in a "down" year by Brown's standards, he still finished with more than 1,000 receiving yards for a fourth straight season with the Eagles. He should still be considered one of the best receivers in the NFL as he enters his age-29 season, his eighth as a pro.

Brown's arrival in New England bumps everyone else down the depth chart. Doubs, who might've been the Patriots' lead receiver if not for the Brown trade, will slide into the No. 2 spot on the depth chart. The former Packer has experience as a top option in a passing offense – he was Green Bay's leading receiver in receptions and receiving yards in 2025. Doubs is largely a "possession" receiver who can work well at medium depth but doesn't often add yards after the catch, so he fits a similar archetype to what Diggs gave the Patriots last year, albeit with a deeper average depth of target.

The rest of the Patriots' receiving room is a great mix of depth. Boutte is a young deep threat who broke out in his last two seasons working with Maye. Hollins, a veteran, was a strong tertiary target for Maye last season, catching more passes than Boutte for a similar number of yards – most of Hollins' targets were close to the line of scrimmage and working the middle of the field at medium depth. And Douglas can rotate in as a fourth option every few snaps to give New England a dynamic, YAC guy.

Williams and Chism are the additional depth the Patriots brought in last season. The former was a third-round rookie and the latter an undrafted free agent.