Kayshon Boutte opens up about trade from Patriots to Texans

One week after getting traded from the New England Patriots to the Houston Texans, wide receiver Kayshon Boutte stood question and answer in front of the media for the first time. And while most of the questions during his press conference on Wednesday centered around his first impression of the Texans, there also was one about him leaving New England after three seasons.

Boutte, who had requested a trade in the offseason, clearly laid out the eventual reason for his departure.

“They did pay two guys to come in and do that job. Sadly, it is the way it is,” he explained. “Being that it’s a contract year for me, I sought a bigger role.”

The two guys in question are free agency pickup Romeo Doubs and trade acquisition A.J. Brown. The former was given a four-year, $68 million contract on the open market, while the Patriots used a first- and fifth-round draft choices to acquire the latter from Philadelphia.

Their arrival fundamentally changed New England’s wide receiver room, and ultimately Boutte’s outlook within it. Despite being a part-time starter in 2024, who finished with 42 receptions for 719 yards and seven touchdowns, he spent training camp as the Patriots’ WR4 behind Doubs, Brown and slot option DeMario Douglas — and that might not have been all.

As head coach Mike Vrabel claimed after the preseason finale in Cleveland, Boutte “probably would have been inactive” on game days this season. While seemingly a harsh assessment, the 24-year-old himself will not use those remarks as extra motivation.

“I feel like what Vrabes said in his media interview, it wasn’t anything bad,” Boutte pointed out. “I wouldn’t say I’ll use that as fuel. At the end of the day, he said that. It was an honest opinion. He said that, he spoke his truth, and pretty much move forward from it.”