Heading into next week's NFL trade deadline, the Atlanta Falcons have a need for more firepower at wide receiver. They are getting better than expected results from their No. 2 option Jahan Dotson. However, this unit is still relatively top-heavy and if Drake London were to get injured it would be one of the worst in the league.
With that in mind, Atlanta is getting linked with just about every wide receiver who could potentially be on the trade block. Seth Walder at ESPN has linked the Falcons with a new name today: Houston Texans wideout Kayshon Boutte.
"Texans WR Kayshon Boutte. This would be the second time Boutte has been traded this season, after the Patriots dealt him to Houston in August. But that was before the Texans traded for Marvin
Harrison Jr. (and before the Texans got out to a 2-5 start). The Falcons are 3-5 but not out of the race in the NFC South, so adding a cheap player who could help is not out of the question, and Boutte is exactly that."
Boutte is never going to be an All-Pro, but he would fill exactly what Atlanta needs at this position: a legitimate threat at the No. 3 spot to take some of the weight off Atlanta's other playmakers, chiefly London, tight end Kyle Pitts and running back Bijan Robinson.
A sixth-round pick by the New England Patriots in the 2023 NFL Draft, Boutte appeared in 34 games for them over the next three seasons. He totaled 93 catches, 1,159 yards and nine touchdowns in that time,.
This year Boutte joined the Texans, where he has caught 15 of 23 targets for 194 yards but has not scored a touchdown as of yet.
Boutte (5-foot-11, 203 pounds) has the build of a typical burner type receiver, having led the NFL in yards per target last season. That kind of dynamic is what's missing from Atlanta's receiver corps, especially with Zachariah Branch on the shelf with a hamstring injury.
This article originally appeared on Falcons Wire: ESPN links Falcons to Texans WR as NFL trade deadline target
