Patriots Player Departure Patriots are sending WR Kayshon Boutte to the Texans for safety Jaylen Reed and a draft pick

[Ross12]

It's interesting that Reed was drafted in the same draft Woodson was. I wonder how close we had him graded to Woodson. Maybe it was close and they saw this trade as a way to double up.

They could've been pretty tightly grouped on their board, but didn't need to draft two safeties last year considering all the other needs on the roster. Now they get a player they liked for 3/4ths of his rookie contract with the "welcome to the NFL rookie" season out of the way at the cost of the final year of a player who they knew they'd lose after this year anyway, plus a 7th round pick back, which is one round lower than the original draft cost of that player in the first place. I certainly wish it was higher than a 7th, but if they do like Reed then it's a decent deal.

 

[manxman2601]

They could have taken Reed way before Texans at 187. If they truly wanted him.

Maybe, having already drafted a safety, they went in a different positional direction.

 

[Brotherblues]

My personal day 2 cope/rationalizing:

1. The message from the whole league is that Maye is HIM. They value our top WRs from last year as JAGs. Meaning they see Maye as the ultimate truth for putting up MVP numbers with that squad.

2. Kyle Williams made a jump and is the insurance. Mack Hollins will have a role but it is Williams who is expected to rise up should Doubs, Brown, or even Douglas go down. They have seen William's progress and are comfortable enough with it that there was no need for Boutte as insurance.

3. They really like Jaylen Reed from last year's draft board and his limited pro tape. They probably wanted him in the draft but were rather forced to choose a kicker right before Reed was drafted.

 

[Ross12]

They could have taken Reed way before Texans at 187. If they truly wanted him.

These are the players they took between Woodson and when Reed was drafted:
- Joshua Farmer
- Bradyn Swinson
- Andres Borregales

So they would've had to take a second safety, Reed, instead of one of these players. I think these players at these positions were probably higher on their priority list than another safety, even if they might've liked Reed more (hypothetically).

 

[manxman2601]

3. They really like Jaylen Reed from last year's draft board and his limited pro tape. They probably wanted him in the draft but were rather forced to choose a kicker right before Reed was drafted.

Speculation is not the same thing as cope. I have no idea how we felt about him in the draft, I was just suggesting a possibility.

 

[Clonamery]

Maybe, having already drafted a safety, they went in a different positional direction.

To me, 7 games in the NFL, doesn't say, we need that guy. I can say he will be able to cover in the RZ but out side the box? Very questionable...draft profiles back that up. I'm sure they'll find ways to use him. Schooler's replacement while he's hurt, Big Nickel, etc.

 

[PatsFan2]

They could've been pretty tightly grouped on their board, but didn't need to draft two safeties last year considering all the other needs on the roster. Now they get a player they liked for 3/4ths of his rookie contract with the "welcome to the NFL rookie" season out of the way at the cost of the final year of a player who they knew they'd lose after this year anyway, plus a 7th round pick back, which is one round lower than the original draft cost of that player in the first place. I certainly wish it was higher than a 7th, but if they do like Reed then it's a decent deal.

Good points the fact that we got him for Three years played into Boutte's compensation. Also that He Started on that Texan Defense is a good sign. With EDGE and Backup DT questionable our D is going need all the help it can get.

 

[Uptown]

 

[RobertWeathers]

Please tell me this is a joke. You are smarter than that.

AJ, Doubs and Hollins are ahead of him. They are prioritizing Williams at X over him.

That makes Boutte the WR5. If they play Pop ahead of him he is WR6.

As the roster is currently constituted, he is a 5-10 snap player here.

If two of the aforementioned are injured, he'll play more.

Since that is unlikely, that is why he was traded.

 

[Ross12]

To me, 7 games in the NFL, doesn't say, we need that guy. I can say he will be able to cover in the RZ but out side the box? Very questionable...draft profiles back that up. I'm sure they'll find ways to use him. Schooler's replacement while he's hurt, Big Nickel, etc.

Maybe just Schooler's replacement... period? Maybe that's heresy to say, but I feel like Schooler commits more penalties than he contributes impact plays, and he doesn't give you anything on defense.

 

[Clonamery]

Maybe just Schooler's replacement... period? Maybe that's heresy to say, but I feel like Schooler commits more penalties than he contributes impact plays, and he doesn't give you anything on defense.

He's actually a Safety. Not completely hybrid but you can't always have everything you'd like.

 

[Brotherblues]

Speculation is not the same thing as cope. I have no idea how we felt about him in the draft, I was just suggesting a possibility.

Was just expressing my own feelings after sleeping on it, not responding to anyone. Haven't caught up on the thread but seems we had a similar thought.

 

[manxman2601]

To me, 7 games in the NFL, doesn't say, we need that guy. I can say he will be able to cover in the RZ but out side the box? Very questionable...draft profiles back that up. I'm sure they'll find ways to use him. Schooler's replacement while he's hurt, Big Nickel, etc.

He was included in the trade for a reason and I doubt it was just to serve as a make weight for a 2028 7th round pick. Maybe it's his college tape, maybe his pro tape, maybe they envision a specific role for him or maybe they're concerned about Woodson's injury and need another body at safety. It's all speculation at this point but there is a reason. My guess is that he's on the roster for the year.

 

[Clonamery]

He was included in the trade for a reason and I doubt it was just to serve as a make weight for a 2028 7th round pick. Maybe it's his college tape, maybe his pro tape, maybe they envision a specific role for him or maybe they're concerned about Woodson's injury and need another body at safety. It's all speculation at this point but there is a reason. My guess is that he's on the roster for the year.

Wolf stays with his choices to the bitter end.

 

[Ross12]

AJ, Doubs and Hollins are ahead of him. They are prioritizing Williams at X over him.

That makes Boutte the WR5. If they play Pop ahead of him he is WR6.

As the roster is currently constituted, he is a 5-10 snap player here.

If two of the aforementioned are injured, he'll play more.

Since that is unlikely, that is why he was traded.

He was WR4 at best. He wasn't going to start on the outside and he wasn't the starting slot receiver, nor was he the backup slot receiver. His best opportunity was to be the top backup outside receiver, but that will likely be a rotation of Williams and Hollins. Boutte certainly would've been in the mix if he were still here, but he would have needed to command a big share of those backup snaps to get more than 10ish snaps a game, which wasn't particularly likely without an injury.

 

[Tunescribe]

Dislike it all you want, it is the truth and some of you are just plain to stupid to realize it. You put your fanboys glasses on, progressives for most of you, and slobber all over our players.

For a moment I thought you were going weirdly political. But then it seems you're giving folks kudos for clear-eyed perspective ...

Google sez:
Progressive lens glasses are multifocal lenses with a smooth, invisible transition between different prescription powers to help you see clearly at near, intermediate, and distance ranges without multiple pairs of glasses.

 

[PatsFan2]

I call BS unless they think X Hutchinson is ready to step up. They lost Jayden Higgins... Tank Dell is a mash unit - Noel have Hamstring issues. Yeah I don't see them needing Boutte. That said: they have a UDFA WR that was brought up in the Draft Forum Pre Draft WR Daniel Sobkowicz had nice game recently.

 

[Ross12]

RE: Schooler - it's also worth remembering that Schooler is still on the NFI list. Reed's presence might let them be more comfortable leaving Schooler there to start the year. The 7th WR logjam is also resolved, which opens a roster spot for someone else.

 

[upstater1]

Teams didn't design coverages to target Boutte. If it was anyone they did that for, it was Diggs. And I don't think most defensive coordinators respected anyone on the Patriots offense enough to design coverages to take them out leaving other receivers open.

And Boutte's catch rate is similar to Hollins and Pop while Diggs caught a far higher percentage. And Diggs and Hollins got far more targets. Boutte caught 71.7% of his passes. Diggs caught 83.3%. Hollins caught 70.7%. Pop caught 67.4% (both Boutte and Pop were targeted 46 times with Boutte catching two more passes than Pop).

Williams or Boutte would be at best the #4 WR on this team if both were still here. Neither would be asked to draw coverage away from other receivers to make plays. Both would only be targeted a handful of time a game. Williams is fine as a #4 or #5 WR. You wouldn't be asking either Williams or Boutte to be the #1 or #2 receiving option on this team.

The only way any of what you say matters in this is if AJ Brown goes down for an extended period of time and either Boutte or Williams were asked to step into a starting role for 3-4 games or more.

But all this is meaningless if you don't include the yards.

Boutte's catch rate comes with 16 YPC.
Diggs's catch rate is with 11 YPC.

That makes a huge difference.

This is why they have other measures that bring the 2 stats together.

 

[BUSTAMOVE]

JFC, get over yourself. He was going to be traded not just because he asked for a trade in April but because he was redundant. My speculation is whether they needed another safety though some are saying his skills are unique to the ones we currently have. We'll see. And a 2028 7th rd pick is like getting a baker's dozen garlic knots with your 2 pies, I mean, did you ever see anyone eat more than a standard dozen knots? No? Glad we could agree on something.

I agree with ya but you should have not used garlic knots as an analogy
I snort a bakers dozen just to warm up