Malcom Butler has a great attitude.

[bruce_w]

Yeah he is great guy, seems like just about everyone would like it to work out for him. But I feel the Pats would like to see him step up a notch and find a way to get a few more int's.

 

[BelichickFan]

Lmao must be nice to judge from your high horse.

Maybe Butler felt he's as good as any CB out there and felt disrespected the Pats signed Gilmore to be their #1 CB especially after proving himself with critical plays to help this team win SBs. It's not like the Pats haven't signed players to extensions before they became UFAs.

People getting their feelings hurt when their companies hire someone for more money for the position they are already performing at a high level is normal, irrespective of how much money we are talking about. Well, maybe not you. You're special.

It's the f'n CBA. 4 years. If you want it sooner you take less per year. Not my CBA. His.

 

[farn]

Two Time world champ. In the end, that's all I care about. IF he plays for NE this season, I hope he becomes a three timer. If he moves on, I still appreciate the effort & skill he brought, yet wish him to stay forever at two rings. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

I don't want to **** on Butler, I appreciate him, dude came in and made people forget about Revis and Talib.

But the problem I have is he went to the media

I don't know...the first media scoop was Lombardi saying that Butler was "asking for the moon and more." The team didn't leak it, but an insider close to the team did. That was followed by a defensive agent trying to save face. Just a crummy situation all around.

 

[Jangles]

In some industries that's the norm.

that's fine

the point is that it's human nature to get butt hurt about it.

 

[Patsfanin Philly]

Why shouldn't he have a great attitude? He's getting a raise from $600K to $3.9 million with plenty more ahead if he continues at the same level of pay. Whatever he was told by his agent (" other teams will give up a first round pick AND give you a mega contract offer sheet") or was led to believe didn't come to fruition so he has to , as the expression goes, "dance with the one who brung you".
Maybe he realized that the market is not what he was told and his best option is to be the good soldier and hit the market as a UFA next year...and the Pats would get ( subject to offset-I know) a third rounder in 2019.....


PS -Sort of OT but usually when a team trades for a player, many people are like " who's that?" If they ever traded Butler to Seattle, I don't think that would be an issue as I'm sure most of Seattle looks at Butler like Bostonians look at Bucky F'n Dent.....

 

[RobertWeathers]

Why shouldn't he have a great attitude? He's getting a raise from $600K to $3.9 million with plenty more ahead if he continues at the same level of pay. Whatever he was told by his agent (" other teams will give up a first round pick AND give you a mega contract offer sheet") or was led to believe didn't come to fruition so he has to , as the expression goes, "dance with the one who brung you".
Maybe he realized that the market is not what he was told and his best option is to be the good soldier and hit the market as a UFA next year...and the Pats would get ( subject to offset-I know) a third rounder in 2019.....

No kidding. It's not like the Pats cut him, he's hurt and back at Popeyes making fried chicken

 

[PatsBoy12]

Two Time world champ. In the end, that's all I care about. IF he plays for NE this season, I hope he becomes a three timer. If he moves on, I still appreciate the effort & skill he brought, yet wish him to stay forever at two rings. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Yeah, pretty much. I hate that the situation is what it is, as both sides are valid in what they feel is the right thing to do. The CBA is what it is and the Pats are not doing anything wrong, but Butler has vastly outperformed his contract and really merits being paid like the top 10 CB he is currently (I could even stretch that to top 5-7). It's like a marriage between two people you know truly care for each other but can't find a common ground because of other circumstances. You want to see it work out, but you know something's got to give. I wish him the best whether it's here or elsewhere. I truly wish to see him in the Flying Elvis for years to come, but my gut tells me the situation is beyond that and he'll eventually be gone, be it before this season or at the end of it, as I don't believe the Pats would franchise him. We'll see. I can hardly claim to be on the inside (LOL).

 

[Sicilian]

I don't mind the attitude he has, and ultimately hope it plays into a monster year for him.

That said, the situation is actually remarkably simple: Players have to put in 4 years before they get market value. They can get more money earlier, but they HAVE to accept less than market value to get it. That's the trade off. Unless you are a transcendent player, no team is just going to give you market value early for no reason. No. Team.

As for being pissed about Gilmore, that guy put in his four years and cashed in. That's how the market works. And what does Butler want? Them NOT to sign a corner across from him? Because at the moment Gilmore is replacing Logan Ryan, NOT Malcolm Butler.

 

[1960Pats]

Butler has a couple more weeks of shopping himself and then he signs with the Pats. Everything else has been nothing but hot air. Without Butler this defense would suck.

 

[jah]

Not over the Gilmore deal, how is that a good attitude? For me it shows immaturity.

Let's say you do a really, really good job at your company, and for good measure, your background was very modest and you had to fight to even get an interview in the first place. Then, the company goes and hires an outside guy with your exact job title and pays him more than what you were asking for. Are you really gonna be like "it's best for the company so I'm happy!"? I sure wouldn't.

 

[ChessToCheckers]

I think most of this is just noise in a slow news period in the NFL calendar.

As far as I can tell, the Butler Camp and the Pats have been negotiating a long term contract and were unable to close on it in time for the 2017 season.

The Pats then tendered Butler as a first rounder, which protects the negotiation and the asset and gives Butler an instant $3.3M raise in salary if he signs it.

The Pats then covered their bases and were able to sign Gilmore for UFA money.

The Butler Camp then covered their bases by shopping around the league to test the RFA market. Thus far, they have not been successful.

This is all following the rules of the CBA.

The Pat's owner has said that he likes Malcolm and hopes he stays with the Pats.

Malcolm's agent (not Malcolm) has issued a few "agent-speak" statements to the press. Others in the press have issued statements "from sources close to the situation".

In other words, this is just noise in a slow news period in the NFL calendar and part of the negotiation dance that happens often.

Bottom line, Butler will probably sign the tender soon, will purchase some protection insurance for 2017, and play his heart out for the Pats (I hope!) or for another team if traded.

It seems to me that this is just business as usual at this time of year.

 

[1960Pats]

Let's say you do a really, really good job at your company, and for good measure, your background was very modest and you had to fight to even get an interview in the first place. Then, the company goes and hires an outside guy with your exact job title and pays him more than what you were asking for. Are you really gonna be like "it's best for the company so I'm happy!"? I sure wouldn't.

Add in the fact that the outsider is getting more than twice what you are and isn't as good at the job.

 

[RIpats88]

Gilmores contract shouldn't bother Butler because Gilmore played out his 5 year rookie contract and waited until his UFA year to get UFA money.

Butler has played 3 years, and wants UFA money in his RFA year...unrealistic. if he wants UFA money he needs to wait until his UFA year.

keep in mind that someone like Derek carr who is a starting quarterback is in his 4th year of his rookie contract this year and is set to make 1.7million and 5million$ total throughout his rookie contract. The same amount Butler will make in his rookie contract. So, I dont really see the outrage.

 

[TruthSeeker]

Let's say you do a really, really good job at your company, and for good measure, your background was very modest and you had to fight to even get an interview in the first place. Then, the company goes and hires an outside guy with your exact job title and pays him more than what you were asking for. Are you really gonna be like "it's best for the company so I'm happy!"? I sure wouldn't.

Let's compare apples to apples. At your company, you signed an exclusive contract that you agreed would pay you for a number of years but it was below market value; you still have a year to go. The other guy finished a similar contract with his company and now got a very lucrative contract with your company.

Yes, some people will have the attitude that it isn't fair. Others will have the attitude that it's perfectly fair. I'm in the second camp. Sounds like you're in the first. It's much easier on the blood pressure and life enjoyment to look at the positive side (I'm doing what I love for a lot of money) then the negative (someone else is making a ton more money and it's not fair that it's not me).

 

[PatsBoy12]

The guy has absolutely worked his ass off to get where he's at. He saved the team from losing a Super Bowl. And played great as a starter the last two seasons.

Of course the Patriots need to do what's in their best interest, as it is a business. But you're telling me you wouldn't be upset in that situation?

EXACTLY! I made that same point earlier when there was the massive Butler thread and spent the rest of the day trying to defend the sentiment. I guess that shouldn't have surprised me given that people can speak a certain way when they're not involved and the situation really does not impact them and their security. But c'mon, anybody in his situation should feel slighted, even if only a little. I don't begrudge Butler one bit for feeling the way he does. And I do believe he has taken the absolutely correct approach. Let the situation be what it's going to be, while you keep your head low and work your ass off. You'll either force NE to re-evaluate (a bit unlikely, I know) or you'll get your huge payday (a very well deserved one) someplace else (though this would make Patsboy12 a bit sad).

 

[slash83]

IF he had a great attitude he wouldn't be complaining about only making 4 million dollars doing something he loves.

 

[farn]

Without Butler this defense would suck.

This is a joke, correct ?

 

[Ross12]

Some of these metaphors are off the mark and not really applicable. Butler signed an exclusive contract as a nobody who couldn't get a job anywhere except NEP. Thus, the contract he signed quite paltry, but he was happy to have a job. After performing very well quickly, he got a slight pay increase on that contract, and now gets a decent increase in the last year of the deal, though it is still a lot less than he would make if he was free and not under this exclusive contract. In the last year of this contract, he decides he wants a new contract and argues with his employer over it. His employer offers to extend his contract with a decent pay increase but he has to finish out the last year of this contract first. He balks at this and continues to demand being paid "what he's worth" despite still being under contract. He then starts talking to other companies and seeing what they would be willing to pay him. His company starts getting tired of this behavior, so they go out and sign someone else to a new contract who had just finished up their prior contract with their previous employer, and they pay this person what he's worth because he's out on the open market. Butler is now upset about this, and finds it unfair that someone else is getting paid what he wants to do the job he's here to do.

The point is, you sign a contract, and you have to honor the contract. You don't get to decide at the end that you want to get a new contract RIGHT NOW, and then get upset when your employer gets tired of your shenanigans and brings in someone else who DOES get paid. You can say that other person is "an outsider" but every player is an outsider until they're signed here. Butler doesn't "deserve" that money more because he has history here. He's still under the original contract he signed. He doesn't get to demand to be paid market value when he's still under contract. It doesn't work like that, in NE or elsewhere or most other industries.

 

[Big Bucks]

Maybe it's not entirely about the money

The Pats signed Gilmore and basically said here's our number 1 corner

Tough to not be hurt if you're the budding corner on the team

Wait a sec, so just because he is earning number 1 money makes him the number 1 corner on our team. LOL

How about I think Butler is number 1 corner on our team and how about just like Gilmore has at Buffalo, suck it up and put in the years to get his big contract.