The decision for the New England Patriots to trade wide receiver Kayshon Boutte was a long-time coming. In the end, they sent him to the Houston Texans for a 2028 seventh-round pick and safety Jaylen Reed.
Patriots EVP of Player Personnel Eliot Wolf would address the trade on Tuesday. In particular, why it was that Boutte was the odd man out of the wide receiver room.
“Kayshon, I wouldn’t say he was the odd man out, I guess he was the odd man out,” Eliot Wolf said. “But there were some different conversations that we had with different teams throughout the league.”
The Patriots carrying seven wide receivers into the season almost certainly wasn’t going to happen, and Boutte was entering the final year of his rookie contract. That, more or less, made Boutte the obvious receiver to move on from, and get something in return rather than seeing him walk in free agency.
“Again, the opportunity to acquire Jaylen Reed for a player that Houston wanted is something that we decided to pull the trigger on. We feel really good about our receiver group. We have guys that can play in multiple positions. They all really complement each other well,” Wolf said.
“Obviously, when we acquired Romeo [Doubs] and A.J. [Brown], something had to give because we have guys that can play in the slot, guys that can play Z, block and play special teams. So, there are just a lot of different elements, and we feel really good about the guys that we have in the room.”
The Major Worry for the New England Patriots Trading Kayshon Boutte
GettyNew England Patriots WR Kayshon Boutte
There are plenty of reasons to be concerned about the Kayshon Boutte trade for the New England Patriots. One of those is that they won’t get fair trade value back for him, which is debatable for now but something that there won’t be a verdict on for at least some time in the future.
More concerning is that the Patriots traded Boutte to the Texans, another contender in the AFC.
There is a good chance that the two see one another in the playoffs once again. This time, Boutte will be on the other sideline, though, and if he creates problems for the Patriots, then this trade will have officially blown up in the Patriots’ faces.
Upgrading at Wide Receiver Was A Long Time Coming for the Patriots
GettyNew England Patriots wide receivers, including Kayshon Boutte and Romeo Doubs
This offseason was one where the Patriots looked to make major changes to their wide receiver room. Beyond moving on from Kayshon Boutte, the Patriots also moved on from Stefon Diggs. Meanwhile, they brought in A.J. Brown and Romeo Doubs.
Eliot Wolf explained that there wasn’t any one moment that led to this decision. Instead, it was about ongoing opportunities to improve the roster.
“It was kind of ongoing. We just felt like, again, in free agency, there are only so many young, talented players that are out there. So, Romeo was a guy that we identified early on in the process that we wanted to acquire, and we were able to. Then obviously when a talent like A.J. Brown becomes available, as long as we had to wait for that in the offseason and start those conversations when we started them, it was just an elite player that we’re excited to be able to acquire,” Wolf said.
“It’s always about improving the roster. You asked the question about depth, some of the depth pieces, we have guys that are good enough to be on the 53, but we’ll be looking to upgrade, and it’s all about trying to get better each day.”
These were some big swings from Wolf and the Patriots front office. If they want to make another deep playoff run, they’d better pay off.
Patriots Exec Explains Why WR Kayshon Boutte Was Odd Man Out Before Trade