Ex-Patriots WR Kayshon Boutte Gets Career News After Trade to Texans

The New England Patriots cast aside wide receiver Kayshon Boutte in a trade to the Houston Texans on Aug. 24. Now, just two weeks later, Boutte is stepping into a potential starting role in Houston, and KPRC 2's Aaron Wilson reported Tuesday that the plan starts now. 'The Texans have big plans for new wide receiver Kayshon Boutte. Immediate plans, not in the distant future,' Wilson reported. 'That's why the Texans traded for the former New England Patriots starter in exchange for hard-hitting safety Jaylen Reed and a 2028 seventh-round draft selection. The plan for Boutte: to utilize him immediately against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday in the season-opener.' That's a reversal from two weeks ago, when Houston Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans was still talking about easing his new receiver in physically before letting him loose. Now Ryans is throwing the whole playbook at him and pointing him toward Sunday. 'He's out there running routes, lining, getting his plays done today,' Ryans said of Boutte, according to Houston Texans On SI. 'So he'll be ready to go on game day.' Kayshon Boutte's Fast Track Into Texans Offense Nick Caley, Houston's offensive coordinator, spent years on New England's staff, and Josh McDaniels still runs a version of that same system with the Patriots. 'Half of it is carryover from what we kind of ran in New England,' Boutte said, as quoted by KPRC 2 Sports Director Randy McIlvoy. 'At the end of the day, it's all about how much you put into it too. You've got to study outside the building.' Ryans emphasized the traits that made Boutte a target in the first place. 'Very strong hands, contested catches,' Ryans said, according to Houston Texans On SI. 'He's coming down with the ball nine times out of 10.' Boutte describes his own game the same way. 'When it comes to big plays, it's really something that's not predetermined,' Boutte said, according to McIlvoy. 'You're going to have to make plays sometimes, whether the ball is behind you, whether it's in front of you, you just got to make a play.' The Trade That Sent Kayshon Boutte To The Houston Texans Houston acquired Boutte on Aug. 24 from New England, sending safety Reed and a 2028 seventh-round pick the other way in a deal struck days after Jayden Higgins tore his ACL in a joint practice with the Raiders. Higgins was Houston's presumed No. 2 receiver behind Nico Collins before the injury wiped out his season. Patriots coach Mike Vrabel didn't dress up the move afterward, framing it as a numbers problem in a crowded receiver room. Boutte wasn't holding a grudge over it. 'He sat there, talked, spoke his truth and pretty much moved forward from there,' Boutte said of Vrabel's comments, according to McIlvoy. Boutte arrives with two straight 500-yard seasons in New England, including three receptions for 75 yards and a touchdown in the postseason against Houston last January that helped send the Patriots to Super Bowl LX. A New Iberia, Louisiana, native who starred at LSU before New England drafted him in the sixth round of the 2023 draft, he caught 43 passes for 589 yards and three touchdowns in 2024, then 33 for 551 and six touchdowns in 2025. Houston went 12-5 in 2025 behind a defense that ranked among the league's best, and the offense now leans on Boutte to offset the Higgins loss while Tank Dell opens the year on injured reserve. C.J. Stroud has been getting extra work with Boutte after practice, building the kind of timing Houston hopes shows up fast, starting Sunday against Buffalo.