FOXBORO – Give the Patriots credit for [not giving up](https://www.bostonherald.com/2025/07/25/patriots-wr-kayshon-boutte-looking-to-build-on-last-seasons-improvements/) on wide receiver Kayshon Boutte.
After seeing Boutte catch two passes for 19 yards in his rookie season, the Patriots had a case to move on from the 2023 sixth-round pick entering Year 2. That’s what they did last week when they cut 2024 fourth-round pick Javon Baker after he caught just one 12-yard pass as a rookie.
But the Patriots stuck it out with Boutte, and now that decision has a chance to pay off in 2025. Boutte was one of the Patriots’ top overall standouts of training camp this summer, and he’ll play a major role on offense this season.
“I would really say just being truly who I am, coming in every day, ready to work, taking it day by day, improving day by day, and now we’re here,” Boutte said about his offseason. “So, four or five days away from game day, just excited to get out on the field with everybody and work.”
Boutte said he stayed true to himself by focusing inward and controlling what he can control.
“I wouldn’t say everybody truly knows who they are,” Boutte said. “But just figuring myself out through the process, I feel like I’ve done a great job of that.”
Boutte caught 43 passes for 589 yards with three touchdowns in 15 games last season, but seven catches, 117 yards and a touchdown came in the Patriots’ Week 18 win over the Bills’ backups.
Both executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf and wide receivers coach Todd Downing said they were “proud” of the work Boutte put in this offseason.
“Kayshon’s someone that, I know personally, I’m very proud of,” Wolf said this summer. “He came in, had some success earlier in college, maybe his last year in college wasn’t what he was hoping it would be. Didn’t do a ton his rookie year, had some production his last year but left some plays on the field, as well. He’s really bought in. I think Todd Downing’s done a tremendous job building a relationship with Kayshon. Really I just can’t speak enough about what Kayshon has done. He can play all three positions, he blocks, he’s good with the ball in his hands, he’s strong, and he’s really becoming a pro here in Year 3, and we’re excited about where he can go.”
Downing said Boutte “turned a corner in being a professional football player.”
“He was a football player that was really talented when I first met him, and I’ve watched him commit to being a professional, meaning how he takes care of his body, how he eats, how he studies, how he does all the things that no one sees, that nobody puts on ESPN,” Downing said. “He’s really been doing a great job of that stuff.”
Boutte was a five-star recruit when he landed at LSU, and he was once viewed as a potential first-round pick. But injuries and off-field issues plagued the end of his college career, and he fell toward the bottom of the 2023 draft.
Boutte spent most of the summer on the first-team unit on offense, and quarterback Drake Maye especially seemed to trust the young wide receiver on [contested catches](https://www.bostonherald.com/2025/08/14/kayshon-boutte-caps-off-patriots-vikings-joint-practices-with-big-play/).
“I always tell everybody, ‘I come from LSU,’ so it’s something I’m used to seeing every week,” Boutte said. “If you ask me, I feel like contested catches is one of my strong suits as a receiver.”
The 23-year-old wideout says he’s able to fight through contact with his bigger frame. Listed at 5-foot-11, 197 pounds, Boutte was able to overpower defensive backs to rip away the ball in gotta-have-it situations this summer.
“He’s a competitive player, and I think he’s made a lot of great plays,” veteran wide receiver Mack Hollins said. “Sometimes you see great plays and then they’re up, down, up, down. You’re on that roller coaster ride. But he’s stayed consistent and continued to make plays to where now it’s that’s the standard, and it’s great to see.”
Hollins is Boutte’s top competition for a starting role. Stefon Diggs and DeMario Douglas are expected to start on offense, leaving another spot open for Boutte or Hollins.
Maye believes his work with Douglas and Boutte, dating back to last year, is going to show on the field during the season.
“Starting with throwing to them in the second group last year. Pop (Douglas) was in the first group, second group some. And Boutte was, for sure, in the second group when I was in there last year, and just building chemistry, and that’s just continued to grow and grow,” Maye said. “And coming into this year, in this camp, they brought it every day, blocking and running routes, and knowing spacing and knowing leverage and man coverage and spacing in depth and zone. They’ve done a great job coming in every day and asking and talking to me, and that’s always what I asked for feedback. And, ‘Hey, what are you seeing?’ Or, ‘Hey, what are you thinking on this if the corner or the star does this.’ Just little things like that, trying to get as much as I can on the same page with them. And I think it’s going to show and show it out in practice.”
The Patriots certainly aren’t expected to have one of the best wide receiver groups in the NFL, but there’s still untapped potential with Douglas, Boutte and rookies Kyle Williams and Efton Chism. And the Patriots know what they can expect from veterans like Hollins and Diggs.