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

[DoubleDeluxe]

So three starts as a rookie, two in the playoffs, is not a “bonafid NFL player”?

What is the minimum threshold he has to clear for you to accept?

State it now, no moving the goalposts later.

do u think 3 games started and 9 total games played is a bonafide NFL player?
5 of those 9 games he basically didn't play, zero stats.
All his stats, 19 total tackles came in 4 games, one game standing out against Buffalo with 12 tackles.
In the 2 playoff starts you mentioned, he had 5 total tackles, 1 solo.
As a comparison, Boutte played 607 snaps in the regular season alone last year in 14 games.
Does he have potential, sure he does, I said I liked him at PSU and think he could be a good player.
He's still unproven, it's far too early to call him a bonafide player yet.
I don't move goalposts. If he plays little on D but is a STs maven then that is more than good enough.
What would you put the odds of him being on our roster to start the 2027 season?
I think that's still very much in question, but he will have a chance to prove his worth.

 

[DoubleDeluxe]

Wasn’t only playing because of a number of injuries?

Yes.

 

[upstater1]

What, or who, did we get in return for Jakobi Meyers? Who else was on the roster then?

According to Callahan, the money we had allotted for him went to Smith-Schuster. Not sure if you replied in the thread in which every single person acknowledged it was between them. I'd say we all knew it, because we were comparing them BEFORE JuJu signed.

 

[jimnance]

I strongly prefer having Doubs and Reed instead of Boutte and the #4 safety that he will replace.

What a stupid post. Doubs has  nothing to do with whether we kept Boutte or not. Williams has nothing to do with whether we keep Boutte or not.
Its Boutte vs. Reed but more importantly, there was ONE reason and ONE reason only to keep Boutte:: INSURANCE!!! This team wants to contend for a SB. What happens if AJ or Doubs or both go down?
Williams is the future. He showed a lot of progress in TC. But hes still raw.
I wanted Boutte just for the depth in case one of or both our #1 and #2 wrs go down.
Yes, I want a SB this year. Won't be easy.
Pat's depth is not good at most position groups. At wr, it used to be.
The only saving grace will be if Reed is a decent player. But hes a box safety, not a fs.
He cant cover wrs.I hope like hell he works out. He hasnt shown anything yet. But hes still pretty young so we'll see.
I remain a huge supporter of Vrabel. Great HC IMO. Maybe the best in the NFL. This was the first and only thing hes done that I dont like. I hope it works out. And I really hope our 1 and 2 wrs stay healthy.

 

[mgteich]

What a stupid post. Doubs has  nothing to do with whether we kept Boutte or not.

ROFL

I read no further

 

[jimnance]

ROFL

I read no further

Why?

 

[dliverey44]

That’s no answer. We’ve watched Boutte play each week. None of us have routinely watched Doubs. If he’s better at something tell us; not just “watch the YouTube highlights”.

I watched alot of the packers and he is pretty elite in the RZ

 

[DoubleDeluxe]

I watched alot of the packers and he is pretty elite in the RZ

I've watched them quite a bit as well the past few years.
I was always impressed with Doubs.
Always seemed to make big plays, he stood out in a very crowded GB WR room.

 

[mgteich]

Why?

Because other than a few message board posters, everyone understood that the day Doubs was signed for the big money, Boutte wouldn't be playing the 2026 season in New England. That would have made no sense for Boutte or for the patriots. Boutte certainly knew this.

The discussions were very similar to those who kept saying that the Brown trade shouldn't have been and wouldn't be executed.

There was and is much reason for opposing these actions, but the decisions were made months before posters accepted the fact that the actions would happen. Of course, the debates will continue for many years, as is usually the case.

 

[n1997y]

Wasn’t only playing because of a number of injuries?

Might’ve been, I haven’t done that deep a dive into the roster status. But he was still best available option on a NFL playoff roster, and better than anybody they could’ve added to the roster.

 

[JoeSixPat]

It is important. I remember the Buffalo game, probably our biggest win all season. Diggs had the huge game but it was Boutte who Maye went to in the clinching situation. And Boutte who had the brain to fall in bounds, kill clock. Most receivers have rocks for heads.

Maye trusted him, repeatedly since his rookie season.

Part of that was our "spread the ball" style of play - which I hope we don't abandon now that we have Brown

The fact of the matter is Brown needed 20% more targets than Diggs to equal Diggs' stats last season.

I'd expect he'd get 120 targets this season too - but he will hopefully draw defenders away from other receivers and open things up for the rest of the guys too

Boutte had even better receiving stats in 2024 than with Maye - but regardless hopefully we got a quality guy in return for a quality guy.

But no getting around Boutte's YAC was low - like 1.5 yards. Williams looks to have more upside despite only catching 10 passes he's averaging 20 yards a catch.

 

[jimnance]

Because other than a few message board posters, everyone understood that the day Doubs was signed for the big money, Boutte wouldn't be playing the 2026 season in New England. That would have made no sense for Boutte or for the patriots. Boutte certainly knew this.

The discussions were very similar to those who kept saying that the Brown trade shouldn't have been and wouldn't be executed.

There was and is much reason for opposing these actions, but the decisions were made months before posters accepted the fact that the actions would happen. Of course, the debates will continue for many years, as is usually the case.

Huh?
You said it was Boutte vs. Reed and Doubs. Lol.
Boutte was not traded for Doubs. Doubs was already on the team.
If you keep Boutte in 2026 you still keep Doubs.
Seriously, are you on drugs?
So its Boutte vs. Reed and a 7th rounder.
Period. End of Story.
Yes, I know Boutte would sign elsewhere in 2027. That has nothing to do with 2026.
Keep him as insurance in 2026, since Williams ain't ready yet. Then if 1 or 2 gets hurt you still have a shot at a SB.
Then you let Boutte walk in 2027.
Because Williams will be ready then.
The insurance of having Boutte THIS year, to me is more important and more likely than the possibility of Reed being a productive player.

 

[rochrist]

I don’t remember any of that. If those things did happen it was barely discussed. The most he ever did was get busted for gambling on himself in college or something. The whole attitude thing you are indicating has never been reported in the past two seasons. Frankly a number of players had a lot to be pissed off about back then.

And I very much disageee with the second statement. He was getting a few opportunities then he didn’t drag his toe and wasn’t seen until the next season. The timing suggests it was Belichick being Belichick and benching a player for a single mistake. Ball had to go to Davante and JuJu instead I guess, whichever terrible receiver he wrongly paid.

You're kind of underplaying a guy illegally (under 21) placing more than 8,900 online bets while at LSU.

 

[mgteich]

Huh?
You said it was Boutte vs. Reed and Doubs. Lol.
Boutte was not traded for Doubs. Doubs was already on the team.
If you keep Boutte in 2026 you still keep Doubs.
Seriously, are you on drugs?
So its Boutte vs. Reed and a 7th rounder.
Period. End of Story.
Yes, I know Boutte would sign elsewhere in 2027. That has nothing to do with 2026.
Keep him as insurance in 2026, since Williams ain't ready yet. Then if 1 or 2 gets hurt you still have a shot at a SB.
Then you let Boutte walk in 2027.
Because Williams will be ready then.
The insurance of having Boutte THIS year, to me is more important and more likely than the possibility of Reed being a productive player.

OK, live in your own reality, the one where Boutte was a starting #3 WR for the 2026 patriots until he was traded to HOU for Reed.

My reality is that Boutte was gone from the 2026 team the day Doubs was signed (barring a major injury to one of the 2 top players). Of course, we would get what we could. But make no mistake, it is

OUT: BOUTTE and #4 S
IN: DOUBS and Reed

And, yes, I was very happy that Boutte wasn't a distraction as we all waited to see if there was an injury to a top player.

 

[LightSkinSmurf]

Because other than a few message board posters, everyone understood that the day Doubs was signed for the big money, Boutte wouldn't be playing the 2026 season in New England. That would have made no sense for Boutte or for the patriots. Boutte certainly knew this.

The discussions were very similar to those who kept saying that the Brown trade shouldn't have been and wouldn't be executed.

There was and is much reason for opposing these actions, but the decisions were made months before posters accepted the fact that the actions would happen. Of course, the debates will continue for many years, as is usually the case.

Yup, I at no point even entertained him still being on the roster at that point. I was just waiting for the trade and the meltdown from some for entertainment.

 

[mgteich]

The patriots decided to pay Doubs rather than pay Doubs level money to Boutte. Maybe other teams would be hugely impressed with his 40 TOTAL YAC's for the season and given us a reasonable pick, or maybe they would want to sign Boutte to a major contract. The patriots made their decision and moved on when we signed Doubs.

2025 Regular Season Statistics

• 
  
• • Receptions: 33
  • Receiving Yards: 551
  • Touchdowns: 6
  • Yards Per Reception: 16.7
  • Targets: 46 [1, 2]
  YAC's 40 yards or a bit more than 1 yard per reception

 

[mgteich]

I recall when we cut Lloyd partly because of his YAC total of 2.6 per receptions compared to Welker's 5.8.

Lloyd's 74 receptions for 911 yards weren't nearly enough to be re-signed for another year, never mind to a major contract.

 

[upstater1]

The patriots decided to pay Doubs rather than pay Doubs level money to Boutte. Maybe other teams would be hugely impressed with his 40 TOTAL YAC's for the season and given us a reasonable pick, or maybe they would want to sign Boutte to a major contract. The patriots made their decision and moved on when we signed Doubs.

2025 Regular Season Statistics

• 
  
• • Receptions: 33
  • Receiving Yards: 551
  • Touchdowns: 6
  • Yards Per Reception: 16.7
  • Targets: 46 [1, 2]
  YAC's 40 yards or a bit more than 1 yard per reception

YAC is meaningless when your YPC are high and your target rate is sky high.

We seem to be dismissing the one trait we've been starving for.

A WR who can fly down the boundary, adjust his body and speed, track a ball, and snag it! All because we want to prioritize some new age metric.

I could understand if we were talking about Christian Watson who only gets 9 yards per target, or Alec Pierce who does not connect with his QB more than half the time... but Boutte is making those downfield catches at a very high rate.

 

[mgteich]

YAC is meaningless when your YPC are high and your target rate is sky high.

We seem to be dismissing the one trait we've been starving for.

A WR who can fly down the boundary, adjust his body and speed, track a ball, and snag it! All because we want to prioritize some new age metric.

I could understand if we were talking about Christian Watson who only gets 9 yards per target, or Alec Pierce who does not connect with his QB more than half the time... but Boutte is making those downfield catches at a very high rate.

40 yards per season in a starter for a SB team should be interesting to compare to other WR's on top teams. Since this is meaningless, perhaps there are lots more that had lover stats. especially on passing teams.

And surely, his total of 33 total receptions stands out among starting playoff and SB receivers.

Boutte was a key player in 2025, but far from the star that Vrabel wanted to pay Doubs money to extend.

 

[WhatJustHappened]

People here are saying how great Reed is, plus 3 years of rookie contract....
Woohoo

WHY would Houston get rid of a Great CHEAP player (on a rookie contract), for a mediocre bum squad rental (as some here would call KB)?
Wolfie can't even see his shoes right now, and wishes he got some Astro Glide stock.