The New England Patriots haven't shied away from making trades this offseason, the most notable of which was for A.J. Brown. While it's far from impossible that the team makes another trade, it's more likely to be in the vein of the other two deals New England made.
With the intention of moving Jared Wilson to center, the Patriots sent Garrett Bradbury to the Bears before the draft and moved on from Marte Mapu in April, sending him to the Texans for a swap of late-round picks rather than releasing him.
The Patriots don't have a first-round pick in 2028, and the future of 2026 second-rounder Gabe Jacas is still up in the air, given that he still hasn't signed his contract yet. New England won't be looking to give up any more top picks, but they do have four sixth-round selections in the 2027 NFL Draft. Moving one of those seems more reasonable.
With the additions of A.J. Brown and Romeo Doubs to the squad ahead of the 2026 season, the wide receiver room is set to look much different compared to 2025. Mack Hollins will return to the squad, while Kyle Williams is also a roster lock. Efton Chism III will likely make the roster with a strong preseason as well, especially considering his uptick in snaps towards the end of the season.
The most likely roster casualties at the position are Kayshon Boutte and Pop Douglas. While the two play different roles, each could be on the chopping block for different reasons. Boutte will compete with Brown, Doubs, and Hollins for outside snaps, which isn't a fight he's likely to win. Douglas may be deemed redundant if the team is happy with the development of Chism, or if they believe Williams can make the transition to the inside.
While Douglas' value is minimal, Boutte is a player teams are likely to make calls about. In a recent mock trade from Bleacher Report's Kristopher Knox, the Patriots make a deal with the Cardinals and Browns for a rare three-team trade.
In the deal, the Patriots would send Boutte to the Cardinals and a third-round pick to the Browns, with wide receiver Michael Wilson getting shipped to New England. The Browns would also receive Jacoby Brissett, while the Cardinals would add Shedeur Sanders and a fourth-round pick.
Michael Wilson wouldn’t solve the Patriots’ biggest wide receiver question
While making this trade would free them from any potential off-field distractions involving Boutte, it would only open them up to issues with Wilson. The former Stanford Cardinal is coming off a career year in which he totaled 78 catches for 1,006 yards and seven touchdowns. He had 50-plus yards in seven of his last eight games, including a 185-yard outing. In his first nine games, he passed the 50-yard mark once. He isn't likely to be pleased to be playing second fiddle to Brown and Doubs in a contract year.
Wilson wouldn't be an answer in the slot, either. He played 30.2% of his snaps in the slot last season, which, though more than Doubs (13.2%) and Brown (12%), isn't close to Stefon Diggs' 51.9% rate last season. In essence, the Patriots would be upgrading Boutte, but would run into the same playtime problem.
Furthermore, the team would have to give up a top-100 pick to do so. Given that Wilson would likely be a one-year rental, they'd be hard-pressed to find a reason to make the deal unless Josh McDaniels is confident he can play as a full-time slot receiver. That doesn't seem likely.
In Wilson's first nine games, he averaged 2.4 catches for 28.9 yards per game with one touchdown. 42.6% of his snaps came in the slot. Conversely, in his fantastic second half of the year, he averaged 7.0 catches for 96.9 yards per game and had six touchdowns. Just 19% of his snaps came in the slot during that stretch. Wilson is clearly more effective on the outside, and for the time being, that isn't something the Patriots need.
Add us as a preferred source on Google