SB51 Review: Did Malcolm Butler play himself out of a big contract with NE?

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

Another point here is that the CB1 position is clearly the Patriots number one priority on defense, or you might say the Queen piece on the chessboard on that side of the ball. Look at the amount they paid Revis and now Gilmore.

When you think about it, the #2 and #3 cornerback positions have been much, much less important. We have seen a whole bunch of guys look good with safety help from McCourty. Brandon Browner was supposedly a great player but was out of the league a year after being our starting #2 CB; Kyle Arrington comes to mind. I don't think Logan Ryan is really a great cornerback, and this isn't sour grapes. He is definitely a good player, but I think the Patriots can get near replacement level on the cheap. Eric Rowe came in and appeared to do his job just fine. I think a lot of this has to do with the Patriots maximizing their safety help with some very fine players like McCourty and Harmon, who may be the league's best 1-2 punch at FS when playing nickel and dime packages. It's a lot like Seattle, where the #2 CB always looks great in that scheme but then get overpaid and exposed when he doesn't have Earl Thomas behind him.

That said the #1 CB better be darn good player at all times, particularly when they face a team with two outstanding wideouts. And this is another reason why I don't think Butler will be on the team much longer...2017 at the latest. It doesn't make sense to pay $26M for two top corners when one superb cornerback and some decent #2s/#3s is very effective. There are only so many positions on the roster where you can invest a lot of money.

 

[The Boston Patriot]

Shaping up to be a long off season...

 

[QuantumMechanic]

5. This crap about Hightower to the Jets makes ZERO sense on any level and is clearly either agent or media BS. Donta' doesn't fit their scheme. He doesn't fit their locker room. They'd clearly have to vastly over pay to get him to come, and that makes no sense for them to do given there limited budget and massive needs. If they are smart they should be in Pats circa 2000 mode, which if you recall was massive salary cap dumps and lots of mid level FA signings Picking up big name FA's at top dollar is NOT what a team undergoing a total rebuild would do. A total fabrication IMHO

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

I have never had ill-will towards another player for choosing another city, but if Hightower chooses the Jets, beyond any personal ties to the city or family reasons, he will be the first. The Patriots have had a very strong offer for him since day one, and he he not getting the deal he thought was out there. Clearly it is down to nickel and diming for every red cent. Its too bad there weren't a lot of talented MLBs on the market because the Patriots could have told him to **** or get off the pot days ago and then moved on. He is the only remaining highly ranked FA left, and all the others have decided on a team, few of which had such an easy decision. For most of them, they already knew the market and what they were looking for. Hightower comes across as just stalling...as I said, too bad he has no real risk of being replaced or of teams moving on without him, settling for a crap deal for waiting too long. It's happened to many others. The fact that he is visiting the Jets is disturbing to me, and I didn't care that he was visiting anyone else...that's obviously his right and it's a big decision that he has earned. Visiting the Jets reeks of either trying to drive up the price or seriously considering playing for that franchise...who in their right mind would choose them and ever say with a straight face that they care about playing football and winning? Any thirty of the other teams and I would t be writing this post and never have said a bad thing about a player trying to maximize their value...this just feels different.

 

[Hammer of Thor]

Yeah, the problem with Ken's post was that he said, "if they are smart" when talking about the Jets.....

 

[RayClay]

5. This crap about Hightower to the Jets makes ZERO sense on any level and is clearly either agent or media BS. Donta' doesn't fit their scheme. He doesn't fit their locker room. They'd clearly have to vastly over pay to get him to come, and that makes no sense for them to do given there limited budget and massive needs. If they are smart they should be in Pats circa 2000 mode, which if you recall was massive salary cap dumps and lots of mid level FA signings Picking up big name FA's at top dollar is NOT what a team undergoing a total rebuild would do. A total fabrication IMHO

If the Jets are smart? You might want to rethink that premise.

 

[RayClay]

People keep saying BB's philosophy is this or that when there's no evidence he acquires players based on a philosophy, unless you consider "using every approach possible, if it gives an advantage" to be a philosophy.

BB is always for getting an edge and avoiding getting stuck. Seems to me, right now, the danger is having a team full of players who are overvalued by others because of our success. A really big concern for successful teams. Put a store full of buffalo players on the shelf next to identical patriots players, and the patriots players are bid up.

He still seems to be putting up pretty good cash, so I assume he values Gilmore et al highly and used the cash he didn't spend on Chandler Jones and Jamie Collins.

 

[ScottishPatriots]

I was waiting on the Butler smear campaign to start

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

No, a couple bad plays dont cancel out 2 great seasons.

Plus wasnt he the corner on that 3rd and long play that kept the falcons from getting back into fg range? That was a pretty huge PD

If butler is moved its for business reasons or something beyond his actual play, which has been nothing short of stellar

 

[patfanken]

Well if his agents want to revitalize his lack luster forray into FA, they couldn't have sent him to a better place, at least as far as the mediots go. They are jumping all over this.

But I still stand by what I said. In a pure football perspective, it makes no sense for Hightowto go to NJ, and even less sense for the Jets to try and take him away. Its clearly all for show. The Jets need to show they are at least trying to do something positive this off season. This will call the dogs off, at least for a couple of days.

BTW- IF, and that's a huge if, Hightower ever signed with the Jets, it can only be for the money, and if that's where is his head is at right now, than the Team just dodged a bullet. They'll move on and be fine without him. Obviously the'll be better with him, but in the long run, the "its all about the money and not the love of the game" guys, are not the ones you want to pay big money to. And tht's not who I think Hightower is.

 

[bostonia3333]

We wouldn't be so worried about Butler leaving if Cyrus Jones turned out to be halfway decent. As a 2nd rounder, I was really hoping Jones would provide some depth to the position. There's no way he can be this bad, it can only get better, especially coming from Alabama's program.

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

OP, thanks for the insight. To be honest I wasn't aware that Butler got burned on that Hightower sack play. I'll have to look at that again.

Here's a great breakdown of it with screen shots:

Greg Cosell's Super Bowl Review: Inside the play that flipped the Patriots' Super Bowl win

That singled up Aldrick Robinson from the inside slot on cornerback Malcolm Butler, and Robinson ran right by Butler on the deep sail route. Robinson was wide open with nobody between him and the end zone (McCourty stepped up to take away Jones), and that’s where Ryan was going with the ball when he was hit by Dont’a Hightower.

 

[PatsFanInVa]

Yeahhhh Cy Jones hasn't turned out to be the answer as of yet...

 

[stinkypete]

Maybe Butler played a bad game (for him, at least) in SBXI, but he outplayed most of the other CBs who had to cover Atlanta's WRs in 2016. Have we forgotten his shutting down of Antonio Brown in the AFCC game?

If a player could lose his shot of an extension over one bad game, then Logan Mankins would have been gone after his rookie deal expired. Butler is a legit top 10 corner.

For all we know, the plan is to extend Butler after the free agency dust settles. Maybe the trade rumor was unfounded conjecture, or leaked by someone who had something to gain from a trade (Butler's agent, New Orleans team officials).