FOXBORO, Mass. — In Week 6 of last season, New England Patriots wide receiver Kayshon Boutte was lined up to the right of quarterback Drake Maye, in front of the home sideline at Gillette Stadium, ready to run a deep route against sensational Houston Texans cornerback Derek Stingley Jr.
The pass from Maye was perfect. It landed in Boutte’s hands just as he reached the end zone.
It was his first career touchdown — but also Maye’s first. Boutte kindly offered up the ball to his quarterback. Maybe it would mean more to the guy who threw it, he thought. But Maye turned down the offer. There would be more, he insisted.
Drake Maye DIME for his first career touchdown pass!
📺: #HOUvsNE on CBS/Paramount+
📱: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/psTLjZvOoK
— NFL (@NFL) October 13, 2024
Then, last Sunday, against the Texans in the fourth quarter of a divisional-round playoff matchup, Boutte found himself in the same spot. Opposite Stingley. Ready for a deep ball.
This time, the ball sailed through the snowy Foxboro air as Boutte neared the end zone. Maye put a little extra on it, ensuring Stingley and his long arms couldn’t reach it. Boutte put one arm out and — amazingly — reeled it in, a touchdown that helped seal the Patriots’ divisional-round win.
“It was the exact same route, same end zone, same corner of the end zone, on the same person,” Boutte said.
The play was nearly identical. Otherwise, this season has been very different for Boutte.
As the Patriots have blossomed into a serious threat to win the AFC, the 23-year-old has quietly turned into one of the NFL’s most underrated and underappreciated big-play wide receivers. Despite having just 33 receptions for 551 yards during the regular season, his average of 16.7 yards per catch was good for fifth in the league. He’s a deep threat who has helped bring out the best in Maye and the Patriots offense, but he can also move around and play different roles when needed.
A year ago, it wasn’t clear Boutte would even be on the roster this season. He was on the trade block as Mike Vrabel and his new staff figured out what they had. At the start of training camp, it wasn’t a given that he’d make the team.
Now, he’s one of the most important players on the Patriots offense heading into Sunday’s AFC Championship Game against the Broncos in Denver.
Boutte, a native of New Iberia, La., is quiet by nature, so it took some time for his relationship to grow with the new coaching staff. But the embrace he shared with Vrabel after Sunday’s game spoke to the winding journey Boutte’s career has taken to this point.
“It was a great moment,” Boutte said of his postgame hug with Vrabel. “I think he told me he was proud of the way I was going. And I would just say that I’m thankful he believed in me when he came in. There was a lot of talk about where I would be, possibly traded, and stuff like that. But we’re sitting here today. He believes, I believe, and it’s been great.”
Boutte’s resume now includes one of the most impressive catches of this postseason, and perhaps the entire 2025 season — one captured so elegantly by NFL Films.
A Boutte Beauty ❄️@Patriots | @InsidetheNFL pic.twitter.com/EmdDn83DyR
— NFL Films (@NFLFilms) January 19, 2026
In real time, the play moved so quickly that Boutte didn’t even realize he’d made a one-handed catch until he got back to the sideline and watched the replay on the stadium’s video board.
“I still kind of look back and wonder, like, ‘How did I catch that?’” Boutte said.
But Boutte is going to have his work cut out for him this week. The Broncos allowed the second-lowest rate of explosive passing plays (defined as gains of more than 16 yards) in the NFL this season. The only team better than the Broncos in that statistic was the Seattle Seahawks, who the Pats could face in the Super Bowl.
What has stood out to the New England coaches, though, is Boutte’s willingness and ability to play multiple positions. His deep-ball ability on the outside is his strength, but Boutte can play in the slot and has been valuable in the short passing game, as well.
“Probably his versatility,” Vrabel said of where Boutte has most improved. “I think he’s an easy learner, could play a bunch of different spots if we asked him to. … I just know that he’s very unselfish, that he makes the most of his opportunities, and has been a highly competitive player. Doesn’t say a whole lot, does his work, has always been accountable, and is where he needs to be when he needs to be there. You notice his actions — you don’t necessarily hear them. That’s just his personality. But you can certainly see that his identity when he plays is exactly what we want.”
Boutte has navigated a turbulent path to get to this point. After his freshman season at LSU, during which he led the Tigers in receiving yards and was a freshman All-SEC selection, he seemed like a sure-fire first-round pick. But he was slowed by an injury in his second year.
Then, a gambling addiction consumed him. He entered the 2023 NFL Draft, but scouts worried about off-field issues and his ability to recover from injury. He dropped to the Patriots in the sixth round. He’s now on his third head coach in three NFL seasons. It would’ve been easy to get lost in the shuffle.
Instead, Boutte has grown under Vrabel’s tenure. And he has matured.
He recently opened up about his gambling addiction in an essay on The Player’s Tribune.
“I’d wake up early in the morning, and the first thing I’d do was bet,” Boutte wrote in that essay. “I’d stay up late and bet. All day. All night. I had insomnia, so if I woke up in the middle of the night, phone next to the bed, I’d bet. Any little money I had, it was going straight to FanDuel.”
His vulnerability in that moment impressed the Patriots.
“That’s not easy to do,” Vrabel said. “I told him, I know that will help a lot of people. He’s a private person, but I have seen a lot of growth from him personally. It’s important to him. This team means a lot to him. He competes. He seems to always come through when we need him. … For him to be able to open up and share those things publicly and as candidly as he did, I was really proud of him.”