New England Patriots should snag young wide receiver Hakeem Butler

The New England Patriots should bring in recently-released wide receiver Hakeem Butler.

The New England Patriots are not exactly loaded with talent at the wide receiver position. Sure, Julian Edelman is still around as a premier slot option, and the young combination of N’Keal Harry and Jakobi Meyers provide some nice, long-term upside. However, there is still plenty of room for improvement at the position and the Pats would benefit from taking a shot on a player with some long-term upside. Hakeem Butler feels like a great fit.

Butler was a fourth-round selection for the Arizona Cardinals in the 2019 NFL Draft. He entered the league with a lot of hype and was considered a potential first-round selection by many in the media. Butler slipped further than most of us expected, injured his hand last preseason and did not play a single snap for Arizona. The Cardinals released Butler on Friday.

Butler is a 6-foot-5, 227-pound receiver who features long arms and big hands on the outside. In his final season at Iowa State, Butler hauled in 60 receptions for 1,318 yards and nine touchdowns, showing off an impressive combination of size and athleticism at the wide receiver position.

While his size immediately stands out on tape, do not sleep on Butler’s athleticism on the outside. He is not a burner, but he does have good speed for a big receiver and was a consistent downfield threat in college. Butler tracks the ball in the air extremely well and consistently shines in contested-catch situations.

Simply put, he is far too talented of a player to be on the open market for long. Butler has had a disappointing start to his NFL career, but it is still easy to see how he can make an impact at the wide receiver position. The New England Patriots could certainly use some young impact talent at wide receiver. If they get the opportunity, they should be taking a flier on Butler and seeing if they can get the most out of him.