Standing Pat can pay off
No trade keeps Butler at home
FOXBORO — Having Marshon Lattimore, the player considered the best cornerback in the draft, fall into the lap of the New Orleans Saints at pick No. 11 Thursday night wasn’t necessarily a terrible turn of events for the Patriots.
It just meant the Saints were no longer interested in pursuing restricted free agent cornerback Malcolm Butler in a trade, and giving him a contract worth a reported $50 million or so.
While there was a chance something might have happened with the Saints’ early second-round pick (No. 42) last night, that idea passed when New Orleans selected Utah safety Marcus Williams in that spot. There was no action.
So Butler will remain in Foxboro. And that’s a good thing for the Patriots.
That means Bill Belichick will field one of the best cornerback tandems in the league for at least another season.
Stephon Gilmore and Butler should be lights out, which will be needed given expectations now for a sixth championship, along with a road during the regular season that’s paved with challenging offenses with top quarterbacks and receivers.
While Butler can hold out, throw temper tantrums, sulk and be generally disgusted by his situation, having to play for the $3.91 million one-year tender, instead of getting that big payday, it really doesn’t do him all that much good.
He’s a victim of the system and the Pats playing it to the letter, Super Bowl hero or not. The near $4 million is more than he’s made in three seasons ($1.53 million).
That’s why he’ll likely be a good soldier, albeit an angry one, and play great this season in order to finally score a more worthy contract on the open market next year.
So for one season, at least, the Pats will throw out a defensive tandem that’s up among the best. Denver’s Chris Harris and Aqib Talib are probably still the top duo. The Giants Janoris Jenkins and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie were very good last year, and the newly formed A.J. Bouye and Jalen Ramsey pairing at Jacksonville should also be good.
“Bill’s just riding it out. He’s playing with house money having Butler for one more year, especially what he’s paying him. That’s a bargain,” NFL Network analyst Solomon Wilcots said when reached yesterday. “Butler’s the one who’s getting screwed here, because he deserves a whole lot more money. The Patriots aren’t going to give it to him if they don’t have to, and right now, they don’t have to. But Butler will show up.”
One interesting theory put forth by former NFL coach Herm Edwards, and seconded to a degree by Wilcots, was the possibility of utilizing Butler more in the slot this year based on the matchups the Pats are likely to see this year, plus the fact they’re a bit short on nickel corners. Cyrus Jones is the leading candidate for the job, but Butler might get some assignments with Eric Rowe joining Gilmore on the outside.
“I think you might see him play the nickel and they’ll put Rowe on the outside so they’ll have two big corners,” Edwards said. “That way you’ll have two 6-foot corners that are long. Then you’ve got Butler inside. He’s a really instinctive player. He’s quick. He can go to either side. You can blitz him. Bill’s smarter than me, but that’s what I was thinking, when all of this was transpiring and he wasn’t going anywhere.”
Wilcots didn’t dismiss it as a possibility, especially with Gilmore on board as the No 1.
“I can see them doing that. I think they’ll move Butler around,” Wilcots said. “I think Gilmore will be the true lockdown guy. And they’ll move Butler around to try and fool quarterbacks because Butler knows the scheme better. When you know the scheme better, it’s easier to move inside, in those hybrid positions.
“Butler’s got the skill set to do it. More importantly, when you move inside, it’s more of a cerebral game, too. You’re accountable as an in-the-box defender. Malcolm Butler can handle that. He can tackle. He’s a physical corner. Not every corner can do that. Hey, this kid’s helped them win two Super Bowls.”
It might now be three before he leaves, thanks to how it turned out with the Saints.