The baseline for a Butler extension has been set...

[SalemPats]

This is the key dynamic right there. We know he loves the guy and his play but how highly in regard does BB hold Malcolm Butler's play, whats his ceiling and contractually, what is going on between the two sides? I'd suspect if Malcolm and BB are far apart on $ and will never close the gap then its adios Malcolm for a 1st round pick.

The way BB is playing Butler this year, i think he values him in extreme high regard.

 

[Tony2046]

That's weird...did Butler do something notable?

Are you referring to that key last second interception?

 

[Soul_Survivor88]

Top CBs don't go on trees, especially one entering his prime. We will have to pay him

He's short though....he's not Richard Sherman

 

[RobertWeathers]

The way BB is playing Butler this year, i think he values him in extreme high regard.

I tend to agree thats why the article Curran put out quoting BB on DB/WR matchups was so fascinating.

As I see it, BB is not putting Malcolm on WR2, he is putting him on WR1 and essentially leaving him on an island.

That right there tells me potentially two things. 1) BB thinks Malcolm is an elite CB or 2) BB thinks those guys would get their yards anyway w/ a CB2/CB3/FS on them and why burn another resource when he is confident Malcolm will at a minimum allow the same production.

Either way, BB thinks Malcolm is elite. Just how elite and how much he thinks he is worth is a different discussion.

 

[BobDigital]

We need to get use to the idea of spending a lot of money to keep Butler. I would lock him up for 5 years no question at 10-11M a year.

 

[PatsBoy12]

That's weird...did Butler do something notable?

I think he was the guy who stopped Kevin Dyson on the 1-yard line.

 

[Wheelman]

Will Butler be a restricted free agent? If so we can at least tender him at 1st round?

 

[PatsFan2]

Butler is not perfect based on Size but no-one plays harder the man has outplayed is contract and is the BEST CB on the N.E. Patriots. CB's in the Draft are like a box of chocolates you never know what you're going to get. Butler can cover for the most part and he Hits! like a Truck...I will take that thank you.

 

[aluminum seats]

I said this earlier in the year when the big discussion was how to prioritize signing Jones, Collins, Hightower and Butler: just assume they'll all be gone and go from there. Sometimes you'll be pleasantly surprised--but as we've seen with 2 of the 4 already...

Personally, I think they'll give Hightower a big contract this offseason. I'm less sure about Butler.

 

[Pats1989]

He will never have to buy a beer in Boston. That's for sure. As for a contract, I'd be okay with anything from 11 million-13.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

Yeah. They should pay him some of the money they were smart enough not to give to Revis

 

[BelichickFan]

With an RFA offer they have the right to match so there's no "got to" here. Butler can do a reasonable, but team friendly, deal early. Or he can wait and see if he gets an offer; if so the Patriots can evaluate the amount and which #1 they would get.

 

[PatriotsPimp136]

I am hoping rowe can develop into a solid outside corner. We need some size.

 

[BradyFTW!]

FIrst of all this is a complete apples to organge thing. Alford was in the final year of his rookie contract. A 2nd pick who in in his 4 season, and canbe a UFA next March. Butler is RFA in his 3rd season (2nd starting). The Pats can tender him with a first round tender of about $3.7MM and still have the opportunity to match any offer. Where the leverage lies is completely opposite.

Here are Butler's issues -

a. His size - He isn't ideally sized, nor is he very big. Teams what to play big money to CB's who can match up with the ever increasing 6'4 WR's coming into the league. You'd liike t think that your top QB will be at least 6'

b. He's a bit older. In fact he's only a year younger than Gronk (26)

c. So at his size and age, ANY slippage in his physical play will be very hard to recover from.

On the plus side

1. He has great quickness and smooth hips

b. He has recovery speed

c. Great leaping ability

d.GREAT tackler

e. pound for pound he could be the hardest hitter on the D

I'd say he's a top 10 CB in this league with at least as many intangible benefits as skill ones. Due to his size, when he starts to loose a bit off his fast ball, I think he will slip fast.

The Pats have 3 choices right now.:

1. The give him a first round tender. Hand him over a 600% raise an put this off for another year and mover on.

2. Try to make a team friendly deal now in the 3 year for $30MM range with a team option for a 4th. Maybe not top dollar, but a 3000% raise and financial security for life.....with a team he totally fits in with.

3. Give him a market deal right aftet the season In the 10-12MM ranger/yr

Personally I THINK they will try #2 and then fall back to #1 and play it out again for another year.

Given the criteria you just put forward, I think it's worth noting that Alford is the same exact size as Butler and two years older. Butler's also a much better player than Alford. By all of those standards--and pretty much any other I can think of--Butler is worth significantly more than Alford.

If anything, the comparison is apples to oranges in the sense that Alford represents the absolute floor of what Butler could command. Yes, the Pats can tender Butler and put this off for another year, and in order to avoid that he may (and probably should) be willing to take a paycut. But even taking a bargain deal would almost probably entail using the Alford deal as a non-negotiable floor and the Patriots having to go up a fair amount from there. The bargain the Patriots would be getting, in this case, would be to get a younger and substantially better cornerback for (hopefully) only a modest premium over what Alford got. Maybe $11M per year instead of $9.5M. If they tender him this year, though, then all bets are off when he hits UFA. At that point, I think he'll know as well as anyone that he can reasonably get $13-15M on the open market, and he won't have any particular incentive to give the Pats a discount. That's why I'm a big fan of tendering him only as an absolute last resort - better to give him a four year deal now if they can get some kind of reasonably compromise on AAV in the $10-12M per year range, and then only be paying him through his age 30 season.

To put it another way: I would much rather have Butler for the next four years than Alford. Only RBs age worse than corners, and Alford is right at that age where you sign him basically with the understanding that he'll be significantly overpaid for the back half of the contract. Depending on how it's structured, he likely won't even see the last year of the deal. Whereas if you sign Butler to a four-year deal right now, you can be reasonably confident--as confident as you ever can be with a corner, anyway--that you're getting what you paid for for the full length of the deal. Even taking into account that he's not a UFA, I think Butler's contract will have to reflect that by being at least a modest increase over what Alford got.

 

[BaconGrundleCandy]

The baseline was set long before now.

Butler will get roughly the same
contract Dareus Slay ( very underrated guy) got. 4/48

Butler can play inside/out, always on his opponents hip, challenges everything, great teammate, fearless in run support and great tackler.

His size will always be there but no player is perfect

 

[Schmo]

With McCourty at $9 mil a year, I w was hoping MB would sign for 7-8 per. I know that's wishful thinking though.

 

[PatsPwn44]

Sort of irrelevant, but Revis...they are tanked for a few season because of our political game.

 

[kennyb]

They should sign him now and they'd get a huge discount. He has an injury risk, ie he gets injured he might never get paid. So give him money now for signing a very team friendly deal.

 

[patfanken]

I'll say it again....and again. A long term deal for Malcolm Butler is doubtful at ths point.... UNLESS he's willing to sign in the $8MM/yr range with more than half quaranteed, which would be a deep discount. It just makes too much sense on both sides to simply wait another year where he's get about $4MM from the Pats.

The time value of money and all that might make it possible for the Pats to give him less that make sense to get it now. But at this point the kind of mney they are taling about is yond life changing. Hell the the half million that get as a base would be life changing for the vast majority of Americans.

 

[farn]

Love me some Butler. Money's gotta make sense. Otherwise, "thanks for the hard work & the huge play - GL in your future endeavours".

Just makes no sense to think that it's gonna be big $ for him if BB is making the calls. Good money : fine. Ridic money : not the standard procedure.