Among the most dire needs was wide receiver, and although the team was unable to land the biggest free-agent players, they did bring in Stefon Diggs to serve as the WR1 the Patriots have lacked since Julian Edelman retired in 2021. There were questions about his performance, however, since he was returning from an ACL injury suffered the previous season. Although he was ready to go in Week 1, he hadn't performed like himself through the first few weeks of the season.