{"id":957293,"date":"2026-07-28T00:33:37","date_gmt":"2026-07-28T00:33:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/957293\/"},"modified":"2026-07-28T00:33:37","modified_gmt":"2026-07-28T00:33:37","slug":"what-does-kayshon-bouttes-future-look-like-in-new-england","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/957293\/","title":{"rendered":"What does Kayshon Boutte\u2019s future look like in New England?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Following the trade for A.J. Brown<\/a> and the big-money free agent signing of Romeo Doubs, it appeared Kayshon Boutte found himself on the outside looking in.<\/p>\n

After being the subject of trade rumors throughout the offseason, the 24-year-old skipped the voluntary portion of the team\u2019s offseason program for the first time in his career before reporting for mandatory minicamp.<\/p>\n

Asked about his future during mandatory minicamp, Boutte said he wants to remain in New England.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wouldn\u2019t mind being here. I do want to be here, obviously,\u201d Boutte said<\/a>. \u201cI mean, at the end of the day, I do want to be here. So whether that\u2019s X, Z, F, like just whatever I got to do, that\u2019s best for me. Whether it\u2019s learning the playbook more, moving around \u2014 There\u2019s only one football. There are five of us, you know? But that\u2019s football.\u201d<\/p>\n

It would be understandable if Boutte wanted a trade. He is entering the final year of his rookie contract and is set to earn a base salary of $3.674 million this season. Suddenly finding himself in a crowded wide receiver room, Boutte could struggle to maximize his value before free agency as Brown and Doubs push him down the depth chart.<\/p>\n

Despite the uncertainty surrounding his future, Boutte has continued to express his desire to remain a Patriot.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to be in New England for the rest of my career,\u201d Boutte told WBZ\u2019s Dan Roche<\/a> back in June. \u201cI\u2019ve enjoyed it out here. Been here three years. Every day I\u2019m here, I call this home. This is my new home. Grew up in Louisiana, stayed there 20 years, but now Boston is my life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Through the early days of training camp, Boutte has backed up those words. He has made two of the biggest plays of camp, looking every bit like a receiver determined to prove he still belongs in New England.<\/p>\n

On Day 1, Boutte caught quarterback Drake Maye\u2019s first deep completion of training camp, hauling in a diving catch on a pass of more than 40 yards after getting behind the defense. On Day 2, he followed it up with a back-shoulder grab over Carlton Davis in tight coverage. His helmet popped off on both catches.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s nothing new. I mean, you guys see it. I mean, all year last year and the year before, and he just keeps doing things right. And I\u2019m proud of him for getting in there, jumping in there,\u201d Maye said after day one. \u201cHe understands if he\u2019s got something down the sideline and a ball down the field, he\u2019s got a chance it\u2019s coming his way. So, great catch.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last season, Boutte caught 33 passes for 551 yards and a career-high six touchdowns in 14 games, production that was slightly limited by a hamstring injury. Despite missing time, he still played 55.48% of New England\u2019s offensive snaps, the second-most among the team\u2019s receivers behind only Mack Hollins (60.05%). He also led the Patriots with 168 receiving yards in the postseason.<\/p>\n

When asked about Boutte\u2019s situation, Vrabel pointed to the receiver\u2019s contributions from a season ago while praising the way he has handled the trade rumors and outside noise.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have a lot of respect for Kayshon, and we went through this last offseason. He had a great offseason, and he had a good training camp, and that played out during the season. He was a large part of our success, and his communication through this offseason with Todd [Downing] and myself, he is a pro,\u201d Vrabel said. \u201cHe understands what his job is, and he has gotten off to a good start. So, I have a lot of respect for him for the way that he has handled all these different situations, the conversations outside of here and the noise that does not affect his performance on the field.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Patriots could still very well move on from Boutte, who they selected in the sixth round (187th overall) of the 2023 NFL Draft, if they want to do right by him and give him a chance to maximize his value ahead of what could be the most important year of his career.<\/p>\n

However, there are plenty of reasons to keep him around, and reasons to believe Boutte can still be a contributor in this revamped wide receiver room. His rapport with Maye is evident, he has proven he can be a productive receiver at this level, and extra depth is never a bad thing \u2014 especially with a top-heavy wide receiver group.<\/p>\n

Although still very early in training camp, the Patriots have already found ways to get Boutte and A.J. Brown on the field together, which could be an encouraging sign for his future in New England. <\/p>\n

For now, the Patriots have no reason to rush into a decision. Boutte is giving them every reason to keep him around.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Following the trade for A.J. Brown and the big-money free agent signing of Romeo Doubs, it appeared Kayshon…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":957294,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2056],"tags":[7,221,253,2368,6306,249,6,222],"class_list":["post-957293","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston-texans","tag-football","tag-houston","tag-houston-texans","tag-houstontexans","tag-kayshon-boutte","tag-new-england-patriots","tag-nfl","tag-texans"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116994795367266389","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/957293","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=957293"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/957293\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/957294"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=957293"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=957293"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=957293"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}