Malcolm Butler back at team workouts....

Rob0729 said:

The smartest thing for Butler is to play and have another Pro Bowl quality season and either get franchised or get paid this offseason. Holding out could backfire on him.

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Smartest thing he could do is take out an insurance policy to protect himself against injury. His talks with the Saints should give him a good foundation for valuing his future.

Tony2046 said:

If I were to guess I would say the only teams I can think of on the schedule that might have the weapons to score on them would be Atlanta, Pittsburgh and maybe Oakland.

But then the question becomes do those teams have enough defense to stop the Pats offense? Nope.

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I'm hoping Belichick has just been tooling up for the Foxtrot Uniform (Foxboro Uniform?) Tour, Improved Edition.

Looking forward to lots of 35-0 or 42-3 games, with huge rushing totals and TOP differentials around 40:20 or even worse.

Even those teams with weapons that could be capable of challenging the Pats' D will have the problem of figuring out how to get their O the ball to play with. Weapons to score on NE is one thing, weapons to match score for score is a whole different level.

I don't understand why every mention of Butler has to be accompanied by posts about Sherman.

Butler is here, Sherman is not. Butler made the play that won us a superbowl we had lost. Sherman cried. Butler is a soft spoken, seemingly humble player that just goes out and does his job. Sherman is a constantly yapping ahole that makes it very hard to route for.

They_Hate_We said:

Judging from the last launch test, there's a strong chance that if they pushed that button, they'd blow themselves up.

Oh, welcome back Malcolm

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I pictured a Wiley Coyote cartoon when I read this.

I took my family to a local charity basketball game last night that was attended by Malcolm Butler (and Brissett, Flowers, James White, Shae McClellin and Van Noy), Butler couldn't have been a nicer, more humble guy. He gave my youngest daugbter a memory of a lifetime by throwing her a pass with an autographed football.

He could (and probably should) be wearing a chip on his shoulder, and maybe he does. But he certainly doesnt show it, he comes across as just a sweet and friendly guy. I really REALLY hope that the Pats take care of him and he stays in New England for a long time

mgteich said:

Sure, that would help the team a lot in 2018.

For 2017, it is not clear whether Sherman is more valuable to the team than a hungry Butler.

It is not at all clear that Sherman would be better in the slot than Butler.

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If this team trades for Sherman, he sure as hell won't be playing the slot. He and Gilmore would be the two outside corners.

I suspect Butler will be a Patriot long-term. Seems the crisis has been crested. Maybe he'll be allowed to walk next year, but I can't imagine the Patriots not pushing hard to keep him.

As prime would say: Pay that man!