With the addition of AJ Brown, the Patriots have a surplus of bodies at the wide receiver position, which means there has to be an odd man out. To me, that odd man out is unfortunately Kayshon Boutte.
Boutte is a guy who overcame the struggles of being benched his rookie year, getting arrested for underage gambling and falling to the sixth round of the 2023 NFL Draft. With all of this going on, he was still able to be a productive receiver for the Patriots each of the past two seasons. However, I believe Boutte would be better off playing for another team this upcoming season.
Finding snaps for Boutte this year is going to be difficult, as AJ Brown is the clear outside receiver, and Doubs projects as the starting Y. While Boutte could play in the slot, we are yet to see him produce/play a high volume of snaps there.
Last season, the former LSU Tiger played 711 snaps as the boundary (X) receiver and only 70 in the slot. Not to mention, his value comes in his “X-play” ability, which usually occurs while he is lined up out wide.
Boutte in a rotation with Brown and Doubs would work, but this isn’t Madden, and with Boutte being in a contract year, I don’t think he would gladly accept a 20-30% snap decrease.
Boutte being okay with the snap decrease would be ideal for New England; however, it’s just not realistic. This, of course, means a trade is likely on the horizon for Boutte.
A few teams that jump off the page to me as potential suitors are the Kansas City Chiefs, Buffalo Bills and Los Angeles Chargers.
Kansas City is in need of a receiver following Rashee Rice’s legal situation and knee injury. The Mahomes-Boutte pairing would be a good one, as well.
For Buffalo, I don’t believe DJ Moore was enough at receiver. Boutte provides Josh Allen with a fantastic deep threat, and a clear number two wide out behind Moore. While I don’t think the Patriots would trade Boutte in the division, that duo would be a fun one.
Finally, the Chargers are always looking for help at receiver, and similar to the other quarterbacks, Justin Herbert and Boutte would be a fantastic pairing.
The only thing seemingly holding the team back from making a trade of Boutte is the price that teams are willing to pay for him.
It’s pretty evident that the Patriots want to trade Boutte. ESPN’s Adam Schefter has highlighted him as a trade candidate ahead of the last two drafts. The fact that no trade has been agreed upon shows the Patriots either value Boutte too high or nobody wants to give up anything for the player.
It will be interesting to hear the various reports that help us understand this situation a little better over the next few months, as we inch towards the season.