Patriots' Kayshon Boutte is a Drake Maye Believer

The Maye-to-Boutte connection has been particularly impressive in the vertical passing game, where the latter has emerged as the team’s predominant deep threat this season, including the playoffs. Boutte has 12 deep catches on 20 targets for 340 yards and six touchdowns, and Maye has a 143.8 passer rating when targeting the receiver deep. While their journey has yet to come full circle — in the form of a championship ring — Boutte understands that both he and Maye are still at the beginning stages of a beautiful friendship.

“Some days, we’ll be sitting there and be like, ‘Damn,’” Boutte said. “We went through the tough times, so now it feels like everything’s finally paying off.”It’s not always gonna be perfect…At the end of the day, we still gotta figure it out. We both still young, we both 23 years old. I mean, it’s a long run ahead of us.”

Sporting a collegiate resume at LSU — which became as well-known for its injury history as for showcasing his on-field performance — coupled with a dismal showing at the NFL Scouting Combine, Boutte found his way to New England as one of the Patriots’ sixth-round Draft selections (No. 187) in the 2023 NFL Draft. Having been touted as a potential first-round pick as a freshman, the experience of being drafted on day 3 was a humbling one for the New Iberia, LA native. 

In fact, Boutte, [via a personal essay published in The Players’ Tribune titled “How The Hell Did I Get Here???,”] recently detailed the trails and tribulations which helped forge his path to the pros — from his injury history, to the free fall of his draft stock, and finally as his troubles with gambling from his days at LSU, which resulted in an arrest warrant being issued for him in January 2024.

Through his hard work, determination and motivation, Kayshon Boutte is now stepping back into the starlight — this time, for the right reasons. On that basis, the best may be yet to come for both him, Maye and the Patriots.