Sources: Patriots trading Boutte to Texans for Reed, draft pick
The Houston Texans have agreed to a trade to acquire wide receiver Kayshon Boutte from the New England Patriots, sources confirmed to ESPN on Monday. Houston is sending safety Jaylen Reed, who played in seven games as a sixth-round rookie in 2025, and a 2028 seventh-round draft pick to the Patriots in exchange for Boutte.
The trade comes a week after Houston lost wide receiver Jayden Higgins to a torn ACL during joint practices with the Las Vegas Raiders. Higgins was projected to become the Texans' No. 2 wideout alongside Nico Collins. The former 2025 second-round pick had 525 receiving yards and six touchdowns as a rookie. In Houston, the hope is Boutte can fill some of the void the loss of Higgins created.
Boutte, who enters the final year of his contract, started 10 games last season and totaled 33 receptions for 551 yards and six touchdowns. He had nine touchdown receptions over the past two seasons, tied with tight end Hunter Henry for the most by any Patriots player over that span. The Patriots selected the 5-foot-11, 203-pound Boutte in the sixth round of the 2023 NFL draft out of LSU.
The Patriots traded for receiver A.J. Brown on June 1 and signed Romeo Doubs to a four-year, $68 million deal in March, which meant Boutte's role in the offense was going to look different. New England also has DeMario Douglas, Mack Hollins, Kyle Williams and Efton Chism III at receiver, which created a logjam at the position.
In Houston, Boutte joins a wide receiver room featuring Xavier Hutchinson, Jaylin Noel, Tank Dell, Justin Watson and Lewis Bond behind Collins. The news of the trade was first reported by The Ringer.