Boutte available for trade?

[Uptown]

Allegedly..

Not exactly surprising given the pending AJ Brown acquisition, Boutte’s upcoming contract year & (to a lesser degree) him working away from the facility.

 

[WhatJustHappened]

Stupid, on both fronts.

 

[TommyD4207]

Allegedly..

Not exactly surprising given the pending AJ Brown acquisition, Boutte’s upcoming contract year & him away from the facility.

While I do think he's probably available, Bert Breer is just spouting opinions without evidence here.

 

[DC Patriots]

Breer seems to be a guy who’s not afraid of taking a wild ass guess that something might happen. Although I agree, it wouldn’t shock me to see Boutte move.

 

[rkarp1]

5th or 6th is really selling low on a player that played very well last season, and still has upside.
still only 24 years old

 

[upstater1]

5th or 6th round pick?

If the Patriots do it for that low a pick, they're crazy. You can get a 4th rounder in comp very easy.

Romeo Doubs' contract alone will fetch the Packers that.

And for what? What if you have injuries at WR?

Dumb in the extreme.

 

[upstater1]

Let's look at Boutte's stats last year.

70% success rate with 16 YPC. See anyone else remotely like Boutte in the NFL? Only one other player, Pickens. That's it.

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/2025/receiving.htm#receiving::rec

 

[Wozzy]

You either pay him or trade him… they’re obviously not close on a contract.

People here insisted this wasn’t happening, if it does they’ll learn a lesson about NFL contract negotiations.

 

[rkarp1]

You either pay him or trade him… they’re obviously not close on a contract.

People here insisted this wasn’t happening, if it does they’ll learn a lesson about NFL contract negotiations.

the issue isn't trading him if Brown is brought in
the issue is for a 5th or 6th rd pick.
selling low

 

[Bill Lee]

While I do think he's probably available, Bert Breer is just spouting opinions without evidence here.

We live in an amazing world where people downstream of Breer make coin by re-posting his random utterances.

 

[Wozzy]

the issue isn't trading him if Brown is brought in
the issue is for a 5th or 6th rd pick.
selling low

He’s had 500 yards receiving the last two seasons.

They’re not trading anything but a role player.

 

[Ross12]

5th or 6th round pick?

If the Patriots do it for that low a pick, they're crazy. You can get a 4th rounder in comp very easy.

Romeo Doubs' contract alone will fetch the Packers that.

And for what? What if you have injuries at WR?

Dumb in the extreme.

You don’t just magically get a comp pick, it depends on contracts in vs contracts out. If they spend more than they lose on players leaving then they don’t get much comp back. You can’t just say “oh they’ll get a comp pick for him when he leaves”.

Secondly, even if he was worth a 4th round comp pick (which I’m not sure he will be, but let’s say he is) - they would have to wait until after this year, then let him leave, then go through free agency etc, and then at the end of the NEXT year, find out what comp picks they end up with. So the comp pick they get wouldn’t arrive until the 2028 draft. Instead they could trade for a 5th round pick now in the 2027 draft, which would be equal to a 4th round pick in the 2028 draft, as picks are generally devalued by a round annually in trades.

So, they can skip the headaches this year since they know he’s not part of future plans and so does he, leave that for some other team, move on with building their new WR room, and get back capital right away that is roughly equal to what they would have gotten for keeping him anyway in the best case scenario.

 

[Bill Lee]

5th or 6th is really selling low on a player that played very well last season, and still has upside.
still only 24 years old

I presume the price is low because most teams think they can get him as a FA at the end of the season.

Who knows, maybe they think he'll be cut during training camp?

Seems there is no rush to make a deal happen.

 

[upstater1]

You don’t just magically get a comp pick, it depends on contracts in vs contracts out. If they spend more than they lose on players leaving then they don’t get much comp back. You can’t just say “oh they’ll get a comp pick for him when he leaves”.

Secondly, even if he was worth a 4th round comp pick (which I’m not sure he will be, but let’s say he is) - they would have to wait until after this year, then let him leave, then go through free agency etc, and then at the end of the NEXT year, find out what comp picks they end up with. So the comp pick they get wouldn’t arrive until the 2028 draft. Instead they could trade for a 5th round pick now in the 2027 draft, which would be equal to a 4th round pick in the 2028 draft, as picks are generally devalued by a round annually in trades.

5th rounders are the equivalent of UDFAs these days. Look at Karon Prunty. Unless the scouts were very very very wrong, he was a guy people wanted ... as a UDFA. And look at our other picks in the 5th and 6th. Prunty, Obiazor, Marcellus Dial, Swinson, Joe Milton.

This isn't worth it when you're trying to win now and the position requires depth because of injuries, especially to an older guy like AJ Brown,

 

[Wozzy]

I presume the price is low because most teams think they can get him as a FA at the end of the season.

Who knows, maybe they think he'll be cut during training camp?

Seems there is no rush to make a deal happen.

Karpy doesn’t, nor has ever, accounted for the money.

They don’t just have to trade for Boutte, they have to pay him. Before these trades happen the two parties usually have an oral agreement on a new deal in place.

It’s late in the process, most teams are at or near their 53… the Pats may have to wait for another team to suffer a WR injury.

 

[Wozzy]

5th rounders are the equivalent of UDFAs these days. Look at Karon Prunty. Unless the scouts were very very very wrong, he was a guy people wanted ... as a UDFA. And look at our other picks in the 5th and 6th. Prunty, Obiazor, Marcellus Dial, Swinson, Joe Milton.

This isn't worth it when you're trying to win now and the position requires depth because of injuries, especially to an older guy like AJ Brown,

If you have AJ Brown, Doubs and want to get Kyle Williams more snaps and targets… what do you do with Boutte? Bench him, or play him over better players?

 

[jdlboot14]

It will be sad to lose him, just because of the growth and maturity we've seen through the toughest 3 years of Pats history in a long time. You love to see those home grown loyal guys get rewarded...
BUT - I've been saying it for months, AJ is a better version of Boutte. They play the same role & style, and it'd be a waste to roster Boutte if he's just going to be a healthy scratch for the season and lose him next year in FA for nothing.
He could certainly help a team as a #3

AJ, Doubs, Hollins, Williams, Pop is a top 10 WR corp. Add either Chism or Dixon as a possible 6th, and we're set.

 

[Bill Lee]

It will be sad to lose him, just because of the growth and maturity we've seen through the toughest 3 years of Pats history in a long time. You love to see those home grown loyal guys get rewarded...
BUT - I've been saying it for months, AJ is a better version of Boutte. They play the same role & style, and it'd be a waste to roster Boutte if he's just going to be a healthy scratch for the season and lose him next year in FA for nothing.
He could certainly help a team as a #3

AJ, Doubs, Hollins, Williams, Pop is a top 10 WR corp. Add either Chism or Dixon as a possible 6th, and we're set.

I more or less agree, but as above, a 5th/6th is next to nothing, and keeping him parked here as injury insurance isn't a terrible outcome either. Ya never know if you need him, and you do know he can be a good fill-in. Also, someone may come calling needing him due to their injury situation and willing to offer more than a 5th/6th. Not sure about the roster implications though. Can he be parked on the PS? Or can he push someone else onto the PS who is less likely to be stolen?

 

[ctpatsfan77]

5th rounders are the equivalent of UDFAs these days. Look at Karon Prunty. Unless the scouts were very very very wrong, he was a guy people wanted ... as a UDFA. And look at our other picks in the 5th and 6th. Prunty, Obiazor, Marcellus Dial, Swinson, Joe Milton.

By the time you get to the 5th, pretty much everybody left has "warts" of some kind. It's just a question of fit.

 

[Pape]

It will be sad to lose him, just because of the growth and maturity we've seen through the toughest 3 years of Pats history in a long time.

that is why you keep him.

i don't like this. not one bit.

effin' stupid move if you ask me