Adam Schefter Views This Patriots Receiver As ‘Expendable’ In Trade

Kayshon Boutte probably doesn’t like the list he found himself on Monday morning.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter published a wide-ranging column with intel before the 2025 NFL Draft, and one topic from the NFL insider included “players on rookie contracts who could be deemed expendable.”

Boutte, a 2023 sixth-round pick about to enter his third season in New England, landed on the list.

Is that to say the Patriots are going to trade Boutte before the first round Thursday night? No. But Schefter probably wouldn’t have namedropped the third-year receiver if he wasn’t hearing something.

It shouldn’t come as a total stunner. The Patriots figure to be in the market for pass-catching prospects after signing Stefon Diggs and Mack Hollins this offseason. Patriots radio broadcaster Scott Zolak even predicted the team would draft a receiver in the second round.

That means young players like Ja’Lynn Polk, Javon Baker and Boutte could slide down the depth chart — or be traded. Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel didn’t draft them, after all.