I think the Boutte issue stems from signing Doubs. I think he's looking at that deal as the one he was hoping to get, and knows they won't hand out 2 of them. They will pay a guy like Brown more than that, but they won't pay the top money, and then pay two guys the deal Doubs signed. Same goes for Diggs. If he returns it will be for closer to 10-11 per, not 17-20 $$. However, if they do trade Boutte they may be willing to give Diggs a 1 year deal in that range, but nothing multi year.
I still think the best way to handle Boutte is to tell him they will trade him if his agent can find a team willing to part with a 4th ( K.C.?), on the condition that he will return and play his ass off if they can't get a willing taker. If that's not good enough then there isn't much more that they can do. Unfortunately their receiving corps proved in the playoffs that they aren't good enough against the best defenses. Diggs isn't a " 1", and the rest simply couldn't get separation quick enough for Maye to pull the trigger. They do need a WR who can beat the best defenses, or draw enough attention to open up opportunities for Doubs and Williams.
I am with you on Boutte's mental model and his perception of the impact of the Doubs signing. I'm not with you on whether Diggs is a 1. He clearly was. Who produced more on the Patriots? I can see the argument that he wasn't a "1" if the most productive pass catcher, by far, was Hunter Henry, the situation that pertained back in the Cam/Mac days. But with Diggs on the field, Henry is just another "role player" receiver, as far as pass catching impact goes.
They "couldn't get separation fast enough for Maye to pull the trigger," yet Maye carved up defenses all year. He ran into a murderer's row in the playoffs, and finally couldn't match the opponent vs. seattle (where he nevertheless finished with good stats, because of (1) the garbage time effect, and (2) Maye legitimately getting dialed in as the second half ground on.) In fact, you could argue that by trying to do too much, he ended up with huge negative big plays, and that's what did the Pats in... not this "true no. 1" fetish.
If you want a Top 10 guy or something, say so. Don't keep saying Diggs wasn't a 1; you just want an elite no. 1. We still don't have that, and have nowhere to get it, unless you want to substitute what Kyle Williams is "going to" be.
Diggs Rankings, 2025:
Yards: 16th. That means half the teams in the league or more would have improved by using Diggs as the no. 1.
Rec. : 12th. See above, except more like 2/3 of teams.
YPC: oh-oh. 57th. 11.9 YPC. Statistically this puts him where you'd expect a team's no. 2 receiver would be. True to form, that's exactly what he is in this metric, (no. 2 receiver, no. 3 pass catcher, including Henry) with Boutte being NE's no. 1 in YPC.
But let's check out the guys he loses out to:
Are you a no.1 receiver with less than 800 yards? Because if you're not, that knocks out 35 of the 56 guys ahead of him. Just for example. (YPC, of course, can be easily won by a specialized role player, e.g., Boutte, an outside-only guy. Diggs sort of wins that argument because you can put him where you need him and he will get open - he's not just an inside guy or an outside guy, he's a "where does he make the play work" guy.
Catch rate: 1st.
This source has him at 81%, though I calculate it as 83% (85 of 102 targets), so I don't know what else goes into their formula. Don't be fooled; the RBs are always super-high in this metric. The benefit of including this one is that they are ranked by catch rate here. He's 1st among receivers.
TDs: 42nd. Oh-ohhhh again. He only had 4 TDs. That's statistically what you'd expect from the no. 2 guy on the team. That said, no NE pass catcher even sniffed double digits. Yet somehow, the team was 5th in the league with 31. So yeah, room for improvement, but the backs and TEs might continue to vulture this stat (and yes, Boutte rang the bell 6 times.)
Games started: T1st. Pooh pooh that if you want, but I don't give a damn if you're the greatest no. 1 in the world for 10 games every season, I need another whole guy to make up for it when you're out. Diggs started every game.
So again, I'm not arguing that he's a top 10 guy. I am arguing that he was NE's no. 1 receiver last year. Our big solution, AJ Brown, doesn't get you that top 5 or top 10 guy either. There's the rub. You
say "true no. 1," you
mean "Top 5 - top 10 receiver." Tellingly, that's about what a "WR1" means in a 10-team fantasy league. He'll carve you up with route running, but he won't win an Olympic gold for track and field in the process. You don't have to target him an extra 40 times to get his 85 catches. But that pure burst is not his game.
The receiving corps wasn't as good as we wanted it to be last year. If it could be better, we damn well want to see that. Your view, that they just weren't good enough against the best defenses, was more true of our WRs than theirs exactly 1 time. Where we can get better, hell yes we should. But let's stop whining that we don't have a "true no. 1" when what we mean is that we're in the middle class of the league, with a no. 1 that
can be contained by a strong CB.
If we re-acquire old man Diggs, it's also doubtful whether he can continue at the same level as last year. It would be nice if Kyle Williams is the diamond in the rough we want. But one thing's for sure.... none of the free agents this year fit that bill.
I get passionate about this because the "true no. 1" fetish covers up virtually every other approach to gaining productivity. Yes it would be cool to have a 14-TD, 1700-yard beast. There are like 2 or 3 of them. God help the league if we got one.
But until then we can't keep "analyzing" the problem as being that we don't have those special players. Yes, we need to get better, especially with Diggs off the team and a year older even if we get him back. Brown isn't that guy. Kyle Williams most likely isn't either. (but surprise us, Kyle!)
That doesn't mean we should be giving up, saying "oh no we just don't have any receivers" because we don't have an elite receiver. Yes, we had a number 1 last year.
We have to cope with being in the pack in terms of who our no. 1 is. The nice thing is, most teams do.
