Patriots Reportedly Shut Down Trade of Fan-Favorite WR Instead of Kayshon Boutte

The New England Patriots decided to move on from Kayshon Boutte during the offseason, a decision that obviously doesn’t seem perfect right now. With A.J. Brown injured, it’s unfortunate that the Patriots did what they did, but this is the result of their actions.

At the end of the day, the Patriots felt they had to move on from Boutte, and it doesn’t necessarily seem wrong in the big picture. The hope is that Brown returns in the near future and that Romeo Doubs is much better than he was in Week 1 against the Seattle Seahawks. Everybody knows the type of player he can be, and that’s the more important part.

However, other players in New England will also have to keep stepping up. According to the latest report, the Patriots put extra pressure on Mack Hollins, as teams called and asked if they’d be willing to move on from him. According to the latest from Albert Breer, it doesn’t sound like the Patriots were even willing to discuss that.

“I had a team calling me asking if the Patriots would trade Hollins,” Breer said. “This was like four or five weeks ago. And I brought up [Kayshon] Boutte, and they were like, ‘No, we would rather have Mack Hollins.’ That team was a contender, and you’d respect them if you knew who it was. And the Patriots didn’t want to trade him.”

Hollins is a decent player in his own right, but he doesn’t feel like a guy whom the Patriots have to keep around for the right price.

The problem for New England is that it likely wouldn’t get much for a guy like that, and considering what he brings to an organization, especially if it’s just going to get a sixth-round pick in return, it doesn’t necessarily make a whole lot of sense to move on from him.