FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Kayshon Boutte has seen the online chatter, the number of times he’s been left off 53-man roster projections and the speculation that he could be traded by the New England Patriots for a late-round draft pick.It happened last year, too, when Mike Vrabel’s coaching staff took over, and it wasn’t clear whether Boutte would find a role.Now it’s happening again. Boutte is blocked on the depth chart by new receivers A.J. Brown and Romeo Doubs. The Pats don’t want to stunt the development of 23-year-old Kyle Williams. Mack Hollins is still around. All of that, in theory, should limit Boutte’s playing time even though he was the team’s top deep threat a year ago (33 receptions for 551 yards and six touchdowns) and probably its second-best receiver overall.Combine that with the fact Boutte skipped spring practices entering a contract year, and it seems totally reasonable to think the 24-year-old could be traded.Why Kayshon Boutte is the biggest dilemma on the Patriots' rosterChad GraffAnd yet, there’s one small problem with that plan. Boutte has been the Patriots’ best player in the early days of training camp. It’s a small sample size, just four real practices and one walk-through, and a lot can change between now and roster cutdown day at the end of August. But four practices in, Boutte has hauled in four deep passes from quarterback Drake Maye.At a time when explosive plays are increasingly valuable in a league where two deep safeties are becoming the norm, Boutte continues to find a way to make chunk plays.So the Pats have a bit of a dilemma on their hands. Should they keep Boutte even if his playing time is diminished, potentially frustrating the receiver in a contract year, and even if he eats into Williams’ playing time, because Boutte is just too good to move in a season with high expectations? Or should they trade Boutte, even if the return is a mere late-round draft pick because teams aren’t likely to give up mid-round selections for a player who has never reached 600 receiving yards in a season and has just one year remaining on his contract?“You hear the talk online, everything like that,” Boutte said Thursday after the Patriots’ first fully padded practice. “Every year I’ve been proving it. I feel like everybody says a lot of stuff, and then it backfires. So it’s kind of the story of my life.”Quickly, the wide receiver position has gone from one of the Patriots’ weakest to a spot where they have arguably too many roster-worthy players to keep. Brown and Doubs are set. The coaches also like Hollins, who played more snaps last year than any other Patriots receiver. DeMario Douglas serves a role from the slot. Williams was a third-round pick last year who had his best practice of camp on Thursday, hauling in a pair of red-zone touchdowns. Undrafted Efton Chism was on the roster a year ago.And then, of course, there’s Boutte. In some ways, he felt like the forgotten man during the spring when he skipped voluntary practices. But he has quickly made an impression at training camp.All of that sets up the question for Vrabel: Would he consider trading a wide receiver given the depth the Pats already have and the idea that they probably can’t keep seven on the 53-man roster?“Well, I love having depth,” Vrabel said, “but I would say that we’re always going to try to look to improve, whether that’s by adding draft capital, obtaining a player or keeping the guys we have. We want to try to provide competition throughout the roster at each position. … That’s what good teams do every year, year in and year out: making the roster as competitive as possible.”Vrabel lauded Boutte on Thursday as someone who, despite the noise, has “been exactly the same as last year.” Vrabel called Boutte “very professional.”But it’s also clear that the receiver’s future is up in the air. Maybe if he keeps making plays as he has at the start of training camp, he could carve out a role as the No. 3 wideout. Or maybe all of those plays make him more attractive to other teams in a potential trade.Boutte seems to recognize that possibility. Unprompted, he brought up the idea Thursday that he might not be in New England in a couple of weeks.“My attitude is we all hear a lot of the stuff that’s going on,” Boutte said. “My main focus is just I’m here today. My feet are here today. If I’m somewhere else next week or the week after, that’s kind of what it is. That’s part of the business. I’m taking it day by day and not thinking about what’s next.”So, the wait for what’s next continues. Maybe it’s a re-established role with the Pats, building off an impressive first few days of camp. Or maybe he’s sent elsewhere, given a chance in a contract year to play for a team that can give him more opportunity.“Truth be told, if you were in a contract year at your important job, you’d kind of want that to be your best year,” Boutte said. “Whatever that looks like for me, we’ll look at all the options and see what the best position is.”