After being arrested in January over allegations of illegal sports betting during his playing days at LSU, the state of Louisiana has dropped the charges of underage gambling and computer fraud against New England Patriots wide receiver Kayshon Boutte. While further developments on the matter remain under review, the 22-year-old is permitted to participate in all off-season team activities moving forward.

Going into the 2024 season, Boutte’s spot on the Patriots’ roster was always going to be far from a guarantee — regardless of whether the charges were dropped or not. Although New England’s receiving corps projects as one of the league’s worst, the franchise selected two wide receivers — Ja’Lynn Polk (second round) and Javon Baker (fourth round) — in April, making Boutte’s role even cloudier as kickoff approaches in less than two months. In addition to the two rookies, veterans Kendrick Bourne, DeMario Douglas, K.J. Osborn, and JuJu Smith-Schuster are all listed ahead of Boutte on the Patriots’ depth chart. Even Jalen Reagor and Tyquan Thornton project as better bets to make the team than the second-year man out of LSU, rendering Boutte useless in all formats of fantasy football.