How would Butler have performed after getting paid? Judging by the way things are going in Tennessee, perhaps not too well.īut maybe he would have become a different player, more stable and dependable as opposed to a boom-or-bust defender. And there would have been no dalliance with the Saints for Brandin Cooks who, even though he had his limitations, was indispensable in 2017 after the injury to Julian Edelman. Had he signed, would the team have had the dough to retain Hightower? It certainly wouldn’t have had the dough for Gilmore. They were still slow-playing Donta Hightower. They’d already sent Chandler Jones to Arizona. Chess match with Rodgers helped Patriots defense grow.Butler was one of the Big-Four defensive players the team needed to find a way to retain or be compensated for. Imagine how different things might be if Butler just took the deal the Patriots put in front of him in the first half of 2016. Butler stayed, played extensively but somewhat inconsistently then was inexplicably benched from the regular defense in Super Bowl 52 after playing virtually every defensive snap all season long. If the Saints could sign him to an offer sheet and the Patriots didn’t match, New England would get a first-round pick back.īut it would be New Orleans’ pick – the 10th overall – not the 32nd overall pick the Patriots sent for Gilmore. After the two teams talked about swapping Butler and wide receiver Brandin Cooks, the Patriots traded a first-rounder for Cooks.īutler then visited with the Saints. The Patriots put the first-round tender tag on Butler as a restricted free agent and hoped someone would bite. So Gilmore got the five-year, $65M contract with $31M guaranteed. The stubbier Butler played at a more continually aggressive pitch than Gilmore but there were times he’d be physically outgunned because of his height. Having faced Gilmore 10 times since he came into the league as the 10th overall pick in the 2012 draft, the Patriots loved Gilmore’s length and natural ability. NFL exec has interesting take on Patriots before NFL trade deadlineīy the end of the 2016 season, the Patriots had a change of heart on Butler. The Patriots’ best and final offer to Butler prior to the 2017 season was a six-year, $66M contract with $25.5M guaranteed, according to ESPN’s Field Yates. Mike Vrabel remembers challenging Bill Belichick and Tom Brady during playing daysīecause the Patriots tried to make the exact same mistake.Gilmore is playing as well as any defensive back in the NFL over the first half of the season.īut Bill Belichick and Nick Caserio won’t be smug about not making the same mistake the Titans did. On that plane will be Stephon Gilmore, the corner the Patriots paid instead of Butler. It’s fair to say neither Vrabel nor Titans GM Jon Robinson – a former Patriots executive – envisioned an explanation of baseline principals of man-to-man coverage being necessary to help people understand why their $61M corner was giving up touchdowns at an alarming rate.Īnd here are the Patriots, Butler’s former employers, flying to Nashville Sunday to further prove they got it right with Butler. He said it in an effort to explain what Malcolm Butler’s particular cornerbacking malfunction is.īutler signed a five-year, $61 million free agent contract with Vrabel’s Titans in the offseason. … When you look back at the quarterback, your man has a tendency to move in another direction.” “ When you play man coverage, you have to look at your man.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |