The Houston Texans received some very unfortunate news on Wednesday when it transpired that wideout Jayden Higgins will miss the entirety of the 2026 regular season with a torn ACL, sustaining the injury on Tuesday Aug. 18 during a joint practice with the Las Vegas Raiders. As such, the Texans will look to fill the void left by what was looking to be their WR2 heading into their tough season opener on Sep. 13 against the Buffalo Bills. KPRC 2 Houston's Aaron Wilson reports that the team are looking into trading for another option at the position, and have identified the Patriots' Kayshon Boutte and the Ravens' Rashod Bateman as potential options.
"The Texans have made exploratory trade calls, per league sources." Wilson reported on Friday. "Among the potential targets: New England Patriots wide receiver Kayshon Boutte and Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Rashod Bateman." Wilson also noted that bringing back former wideout from retirement, De'Andre Hopkins, who is second all-time in receiving yards in Texans franchise history with 8,602, is not an option at this point in time. "The Texans aren't expected to have a reunion with former All-Pro receiver DeAndre Hopkins, who's now the assistant receivers coach at Georgia Tech.
The Texans, ideally, want a bigger receiver should they bring in outside reinforcements, per a league source," he added. The additions of Bateman and Boutte being noted imply that the team is looking for solid but unspectacular over a true high-end #2 or lower end #1 to pair with two-time Pro Bowler Nico Collins. Houston also has the imminent return of Tank Dell to look forward to.
Prior to his devastating knee injury in late 2024, Dell was looking like a potential breakout star for the Texans. In the meantime, 2023 sixth round pick Xavier Hutchinson and 2025 third rounder Jaylin Noel will be the prime contenders to step into Higgins' now-vacant role in the starting lineup.
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