The Texans are looking around at receiver after Jayden Higgins’ injury, and two names have surfaced as possible trade fits: Patriots wideout Kayshon Boutte and Ravens receiver Rashod Bateman, according to Aaron Wilson.
Wilson also reported that a reunion with DeAndre Hopkins is not in the cards. Hopkins, the former All-Pro, has taken a job as Georgia Tech’s assistant receivers coach, which makes that path unlikely.
Boutte has been viewed as a trade candidate since early in the offseason, though nothing has materialized yet. New England added WR A.J.
Brown and signed WR Romeo Doubs in free agency, a set of moves that makes Boutte easier to move as he enters the final year of his rookie contract. In May, SI.com’s Albert Breer said he believed the Patriots were looking for a day three pick and thought Boutte could be available for a fifth- or sixth-round selection.
The 23-year-old was a freshman All-American and freshman All-SEC pick at LSU before declaring for the 2023 NFL Draft after three seasons. The Patriots took him in the sixth round and signed him to a four-year, $4.027 million deal that included a $187,274 signing bonus. In 2025, Boutte played 14 games and posted 33 catches on 46 targets for 551 yards, a 16.7 yards-per-catch average, and six touchdowns.
Bateman has also been on the trade radar. ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported in March that he was among the wide receivers “potentially available” this offseason. Baltimore kept him in place with a new deal a few years ago, but he still hasn’t developed into a major impact player there.
Bateman, 26, was a three-year starter at Minnesota and earned first-team All-Big Ten honors as a sophomore before opting out after seven games in 2020. The Ravens selected him No. 27 overall in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft and signed him to a four-year, $12,599,412 contract with a $6,523,209 signing bonus.
He was in the final year of his rookie deal when Baltimore signed him to a three-year contract through 2026 instead of exercising the fifth-year option, and the team later gave him a three-year, $36.75 million extension. In 2025, Bateman appeared in 13 games and finished with 19 receptions for 224 yards and two touchdowns.
We’ll have more on the Texans as the news is available.
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