Why Malcolm Butler’s Fate Won’t Be Determined Until Day Two of the 2017 NFL Draft
Exactly six weeks after the New England Patriots placed a first-round tender on Super Bowl XLIX hero Malcolm Butler, the former undrafted free agent finally signed the deal according to Field Yates of ESPN.
Signing the deal not only increases Butler’s salary to $3.91 million next season, but it also allows the Patriots to complete a trade if desired. Where will Butler call home for the 2017 season? The answer should be revealed next Friday night on day two of the 2017 NFL Draft.
Source: Patriots CB Malcolm Butler has signed his restricted free agent tender. A trade is still on the table.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) April 18, 2017
Why day two? Well for starters the New Orleans Saints, a team Butler visited, and the Patriots already made a deal with this offseason, aren’t giving up the 11th pick in the draft to acquire the 27-year-old cornerback. Saints head coach Sean Payton confirmed as much during the annual league meetings in March by saying, “I don’t think we’re going to do that and give up the 11th pick. In fact, I know we won’t do that.” While the Saints may not be interested in trading away the 11th pick in the draft, they still have the 32nd, and 42nd picks at their disposal.
The Saints acquired the 32nd and final pick of round one from the Patriots in the Brandin Cooks deal. New Orleans could flip that pick right back to New England for Butler. However, that’s unlikely to happen. The final pick of round one has been traded two of the past three years as NFL teams vie for the opportunity to have a player under team control for that additional fifth year.
=If the Saints do wish to trade pick 32, two or three additional draft picks from another team may be more enticing than Butler, who New Orleans would then look to sign to a long-term deal. The one time over the past three years the final pick of round one wasn’t traded, it was held by the Patriots.
New England Patriots
After trading the team’s second-round pick to the Carolina Panthers for defensive end Kony Ealy, the Patriots aren’t scheduled to make a selection this year until pick number 72.
Are we supposed to believe Bill Belichick, who has uncharacteristically spent this offseason shopping as if it were his own personal Black Friday, is done making deals?
Are we supposed to believe Bill Belichick, who has uncharacteristically spent this offseason shopping as if it were his own personal Black Friday, is done making deals?
This year’s draft class is one of the deepest in years, so of course, Belichick has gone against conventional wisdom and been willing to include picks in multiple trades. The Patriots traded first and third-round picks for Cooks, a second for Ealy, and a fourth for tight end Dwayne Allen.
That doesn’t even include the picks traded away from deals last season involving Kyle Van Noy and Barkevious Mingo, or the fourth-round pick forfeited because the commissioner doesn’t understand the Ideal Gas Law.
With all of those trades under his hoodie, Belichick will spend the first night of the 2017 NFL Draft closely monitoring a few positions. The Patriots, having just won the Super Bowl and arguably free agency, don’t have many holes to fill. In fact, the main contributors lost from last season’s team (Martellus Bennett, Chris Long and Logan Ryan) were replaced by players younger or the same age (Dwayne Allen, Kony Ealy and Stephon Gilmore respectively). The positions New England will be looking to add depth to include offensive tackle, edge rusher and cornerback. How quickly those positions come off the board will determine how aggressive the Patriots become with their trade chips.
First off, which prospects expected to be first or second-round picks might the Patriots covet at those positions? Based off Bill Belichick’s history of what he desires both athletically and from a measurables standpoint, Cam Robinson of Alabama is the only tackle the Patriots would potentially trade up for. Pass rushers Jordan Willis of Kansas State and Derek Rivers of Youngstown State fit the mold and would be ideal replacements for Jabaal Sheard. At the cornerback position, Alabama’s Marlon Humphrey and three Pac-12 defenders, Kevin King (Washington), Chidobe Awuzie (Colorado) and Fabian Moreau (UCLA) all possess the traits New England looks for.
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If New England falls in love with any of those prospects, Belichick won’t hesitate to ship out Butler. If a specific position of need starts flying off the board in round one, the Patriots may look to sweeten the pot with a mid-round pick or two to outbid teams looking to snag a quarterback with the final pick of the first round. If several players the Patriots covet are still available, which appears to be the more likely scenario, pick 42 is in play. A straight swap of Butler for that pick would not only save the Patriots close to $2.8 million this season, it would allow the team to get younger and have someone under team control for much longer than one season.
The Patriots don’t need to trade Malcolm Butler, just like they don’t need to trade Jimmy Garoppolo. However, if the right offer is on the table, look for Belichick to pounce. It won’t be for the 11th pick, and likely won’t be for the 32nd pick either, so don’t expect Butler’s future to be decided until the Saints are on the clock at number 42 on day two of the 2017 NFL Draft.