Kayshon Boutte’s exit from New England might have been coming even if the Patriots hadn’t dealt him away.
Mike Vrabel said Thursday night that the wide receiver, who was sent to the Houston Texans on Monday, likely would have been on the outside looking in once the season started. New England beat the Browns 37-13 in its preseason finale in Cleveland, and afterward Vrabel laid out why the move made sense from the Patriots’ side.
“That was one place [at wide receiver] where we do have some depth, and I think for all parties involved, that was probably the best thing,” Vrabel said. “Without injuries, Kayshon probably would have been inactive.
Unfortunately, it just, it’s kind of the way it was. It’s just with him not playing special teams.
“And I tried to thank Kayshon as many times as I could. I texted him again today.
It’s just his maturity, his growth, his ability to put into words last year and share his own personal struggle, but also the growth that he made from that. That’s positively going to affect a lot of people.
And I know that that wasn’t easy for him to do, and I tell him all the time about how much I respect him for being able to do that.”
Boutte was dealt to Houston in exchange for safety Jaylen Reed and a 2028 seventh-round pick. In a goodbye message posted on Instagram Wednesday night, Boutte said he had asked for a trade back in March.
The move also lines up with how New England’s receiver room has changed this offseason. Boutte had built chemistry with Drake Maye and had been the quarterback’s preferred deep target, but the Patriots added A.J. Brown and Romeo Doubs, and Boutte’s role kept shrinking.
There may already be an answer in-house. Second-year receiver Kyle Williams could be next in line for those downfield chances with Maye. Williams has the speed and release to threaten defenses vertically, and he finished the preseason with three touchdowns in three games.
Vrabel also addressed another issue hanging over the team: Christian Gonzalez’s contract situation. Gonzalez has voiced frustration about the lack of movement on a new deal, and Vrabel said he understood where the cornerback was coming from.
“I don’t have a reaction,” Vrabel said. “I have conversations with Christian, and I understand that this is probably something that’s difficult.
I’ve never been in that position to this extent, and you try to treat it with class, but also … he and I communicate. … Our players are always free to feel how they want to feel, and you just have to stay patient and hope that we can continue to work to some sort of agreement.”
ESPN’s Adam Schefter added Thursday that there remains a significant gap between Gonzalez and the Patriots, even after Seattle corner Devon Witherspoon signed a four-year, $132 million extension earlier this month. Schefter said the two sides have not been close to a deal and noted that Witherspoon and Gonzalez share the same agent. He also said the Patriots have not been operating in Witherspoon’s money range and still appear to be apart from Gonzalez’s camp.
Beyond Boutte and Gonzalez, the Patriots have a roster deadline looming Sunday at 6 p.m., when the team must get down from 90 players to 53.
Two veterans in particular are still in limbo: edge rusher Harold Landry and safety/special teams standout Brenden Schooler. Both have spent camp on lists that have kept them from practicing - Landry on the PUP list and Schooler on the non-football injury/illness list - and if they are not activated by Sunday, they must miss at least the first four games of the 2026 season.
Vrabel left the door open just a crack for both players.
“I think we’ll just continue to see when we get back,” Vrabel said. “Those guys stayed back, Brenden Schooler and Harold both stayed back, and they have to be able to pass certain things, because once you take them off, that’s kind of what it is.
And so we just want to be very careful and smart with them and not force them into anything. But on the same note that if they can do and relatively perform where we expect them to, or where they expect themselves to, that could be a possibility that we could be able to bring those guys off.”
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Kyle Williams at least kept giving the staff something to think about, with the second-year wide receiver finding the end zone in each of the teams three preseason games. Even in a preseason finale that turned flat quickly, performances like that tend to linger as the roster decisions tighten, especially for players trying to turn late-summer production into a real role once the games count. [Read more 🡒]