00:00Kayshawn Booty is someone that ESPN believes would be a really good pickup for Washington via a trade.
00:09So, this was a Seth Walder special on ESPN.com this morning,
00:17proposing five big trades during 2026 NFL training camps.
00:25A couple of the others, if you're interested.
00:28Jesse Bates, the safety, is still out there.
00:30When I say he's out there, he's still in Atlanta.
00:33Atlanta just lost Jalen Walker yesterday to a torn ACL.
00:37That is a devastating blow.
00:39That defense really came on last year towards the end of the season.
00:44But Jesse Bates to the 49ers for a third-round pick, that's one.
00:49Kayvon Thibodeau to the Patriots for a third-round pick is another proposed trade by ESPN.
00:57Seth Walder.
00:58Wide receiver Keon Coleman from Buffalo to Indy for a fourth-round selection.
01:05And then there's a tackle, Walker Little, that goes from Jacksonville to Arizona for a sixth-rounder.
01:12And then his final of his five proposed trades during training camp is Washington trading a 2027 fifth-round pick
01:25to the Patriots for wide receiver Kayshon Booty.
01:29Now, why would the Patriots be interested in parting ways with Kayshon Booty?
01:37Well, if you recall, they traded for A.J. Brown and they signed Romeo Dobbs.
01:43They are all of a sudden loaded at wide receiver.
01:48They also have DeMario Douglas and Mac Hollins.
01:52They've got some depth at wide receiver.
01:55And so Kayshon Booty has been a discussion during this offseason as somebody who potentially, potentially could get dealt because
02:05of what the Patriots went out and acquired via trade and in free agency at wide receiver.
02:12Booty, for those of you that don't know, is, you know, a five-foot-eleven, six-foot wide receiver that
02:19can really fly.
02:21And he played with Jaden Daniels at LSU in 2022.
02:27He was a sixth-round pick of the Patriots in the 2023 draft.
02:32He played with Malik Neighbors on that 2022 team, not the Heisman Trophy winning season year of 2023 with Jaden
02:41Daniels.
02:41He was on the 2022 team, and Brian Thomas Jr. ended up sort of replacing him to get paired with
02:48Malik Neighbors in 2023.
02:50And he had 48 receptions that season in 2022 with Jaden Daniels at LSU.
02:55They were a good football team, but their defense was horrendous.
02:59Anyway, last year was his third in the NFL, 33 receptions on 46 targets for 551 yards, averaged 16.7
03:12yards per reception, and had six receiving touchdowns last year.
03:20Where did that rank among the wide receivers that played for the Patriots last year?
03:27Number one, he had two more touchdown catches than Stephon Diggs had.
03:32Now, Hunter Henry, their tight end, had seven for the season, but Keyshawn Booty had six.
03:38Here's what Seth Walder writes about why this trade would make sense.
03:42He writes, Booty is entering the final year of his rookie contract and became a natural trade candidate once the
03:50Patriots signed Romeo Dobbs in free agency and traded for A.J. Brown.
03:54Those transactions bumped Booty down the depth chart in a wide receiver room that also features Matt Collins and, oh
04:01my God, I forgot, Kyle Williams.
04:03I loved Kyle Williams coming out in last year's draft, in the 2025 draft from Washington State, and he had
04:11a very good ending to his rookie year.
04:15I think he's got a chance to be a very good NFL receiver.
04:19Anyway, Seth Walder continues.
04:23Booty's coming off a mini breakout season in which he had 33 receptions for 551 receiving yards and six touchdowns.
04:30On a career-best 1.65 yards per route run.
04:35He has, listen carefully, the most vertical route profile in the NFL, as 31% of his routes last season
04:46were either go routes or deep fades miles ahead of the next highest wide receiver, minimum 300 routes.
04:55And that was Quentin Johnston in Los Angeles with the Chargers at 24%.
05:00So 31% of the routes run by Kayshaun Booty in New England last year.
05:08Go deep.
05:10Run fast and deep.
05:13Or a fade.
05:14All right?
05:15We're going deep to you or we're throwing you a deep fade.
05:19Now, Seth Walder continues.
05:21That profile might not be appealing for every team, but it could work in Washington.
05:29The Commanders badly need another reliable wide receiver behind number one wideout Terry McLaurin.
05:34The Commanders currently have rookie third rounder Antonio Williams, likely a slot, Van Jefferson, Deami Brown, Jalen Lane, and Traylon
05:42Burks.
05:42It really is a glaring need.
05:45Booty might not be perfect, but would likely be their number two right away.
05:52His ability to take the top off the defense could be ideal in opening up intermediate space for McLaurin to
06:01work.
06:03That said, if I were New England, I'd be inclined to keep Booty, especially after his hot start to training
06:08camp.
06:09Didn't know about that, but there is something to read about that.
06:12But considering the situation, it's very plausible the Patriots deal him, and this trade would make sense if they did.
06:21Apparently, in camp with the Patriots beat reporters who do play-by-play training camp stuff, he's caught a couple
06:30of deep balls from Drake May.
06:32Not sure Sauce Gardner or Pat Sertan were covering him, but maybe Christian Gonzalez was.
06:38They got a really good corner in their group, in their locker room.
06:43So, you know, when you start reading the profile, you didn't even need to get to the point where Seth
06:51Walder talks about the fit for Washington being different than most places.
06:56Washington has looked for and needs somebody to create some space in the middle of the field.
07:05Not just for Terry, but for everybody else.
07:08For the run game.
07:09For the tight end, Chigakonkwo.
07:13And they don't necessarily have that among their receivers.
07:17Terry is still the best deep threat they have.
07:21They could use another stretch-the-defense vertical threat receiver.
07:28By the way, Brandon Iyuk certainly would have been that had he looked like he did in 2023.
07:33Had he been, you know, a little bit different in his communication during the last couple of months.
07:42I like this for a fifth-round pick.
07:47I think that Booty also, it's really important, like I was looking at this before the show, just some PFF
07:54stuff.
07:55Take it for what it's worth.
07:56He had an overall 70.9 grade from PFF for the season last year.
08:01That's above average, 60s average.
08:03He was 36th PFF grade-wise among 81 qualified wide receivers last year.
08:12And he was charged with just one drop on 46 targets for the year.
08:23And his average depth of target was 17.5 yards.
08:27Now, here's the one, you know, thing about Kayshawn Booty that I would just be a little bit leery of.
08:33And this is why, I mean, first of all, last year was his third season in the NFL.
08:39He hasn't been great.
08:40He was on a team that went to the Super Bowl last year.
08:44And he was instrumental in catching touchdown passes.
08:48And in that Houston game, an incredible touchdown catch.
08:52You know, actually, in the postseason last year, he ended up with nine catches in four games for 168 yards,
09:0018.7 yards per catch.
09:04I know it was only nine catches in four games.
09:07But if you recall, they weren't exactly humming offensively, the Patriots, in the postseason.
09:12They played the best defensive teams they played all year long in the postseason.
09:18Chargers, Texans, Broncos, Seahawks, right in a row.
09:22And they just didn't generate much of anything offensively from anybody in those four games.
09:30But he had that huge touchdown catch against Houston.
09:34Had a couple of big catches against the Chargers.
09:37And then against Denver with the snow and in the Super Bowl where they were just really struggling.
09:42He did have one catch in that Super Bowl for 21 yards in that game.
09:47I think that came in the second half.
09:49But, look, I still would prefer Diggs.
09:53Although Diggs and Booty aren't the exact same player.
09:57Booty truly is a stretch-the-field vertical route runner.
10:01And who knows if he's limited to that or if he's got something else to his game.
10:06We had Jeremy Fowler on the show last week.
10:09Right, Max?
10:10Last week.
10:11And I said, if not Diggs.
10:14And he said, you know, it's not going to happen with IU.
10:16If not Diggs, where would they go?
10:19And he said, look, there are receivers that people are expecting that they will become available later in training camp.
10:28And one of those receivers that he mentioned was DeMario Douglas in New England.
10:35New England last year, let me get to, I don't want to lose the thought about Josh McDaniels.
10:40But DeMario Douglas is a smaller receiver and a different receiver than Keishon Booty.
10:46Booty would be a better fit.
10:49Cedric Tillman, the 6'4'' receiver for Cleveland, would be a better fit.
10:54That was another name that was thrown out by Fowler.
10:57You know, he threw out DeMario Douglas and Tillman could become available.
11:02And that could be a pickup for Washington before the regular season begins.
11:06Douglas is 5'8".
11:08He's an inside receiver.
11:10He's not Booty.
11:12And Tillman's different than Booty as well because he's much bigger.
11:16But I think the one thing you just have to be a little bit, not leery, but just overall aware
11:23of,
11:24is that Josh McDaniel last year schemed up the second highest wide open rates in the NFL.
11:35The New England receivers, Douglas last year, Booty last year, Diggs last year, tight end Hunter Henry and company,
11:46they were number two in the DVOA stat, wide open, receiving core, pass-catching core.
11:55So there was, you know, an open stat and then a wide open stat.
12:00And New England was second in the league in wide open.
12:03That is scheme.
12:04That is route running too.
12:06Receivers are great.
12:07But Josh McDaniel's done that with, you know, everywhere he's been.
12:12Josh McDaniel's may not be a great head coach, but Josh McDaniel's is quite an offensive coordinator,
12:20and he schemes people open.
12:23And people were open last year for the Patriots until they played the best defensive teams on their schedule in
12:30the postseason.
12:31But yeah, Kayshaun Booty for a fifth rounder, sign me up.
12:36Now, I don't think it's, I don't think there's a world in which they get Diggs and Booty.
12:43And I'm not even saying that they're interested in Booty.
12:47But if you asked me Diggs or Booty, I think I'd still take Diggs, even though he doesn't have that
12:56same profile.
12:57He's not running go routes and fades, and that's it.
13:01Stefan Diggs is going to do his work over the middle of the field on medium routes.
13:07I still think Diggs is a threat, certainly, with the ball in his hands.
13:11And I certainly, it's not like you can crowd him and expect him not to run by you.
13:16But Booty can run by you pretty easily.
13:19I'd still take Diggs, personally.
13:21That's what we made the ball.
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