Malcolm Butler returning to Patriots on a two-year…
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Free agent cornerback Malcolm Butler and Bill Belichick apparently are willing to let bygones be bygones. Ben Volin of The Boston Globe reports the Patriots are re-signing Butler to a two-year deal.
The deal is worth a maximum of $9 million, including all the incentives.
Butler, 32, retired from the NFL last August for personal reasons. He last played in 2020 with the Titans.
Butler intercepted Russell Wilson on the goal line to seal the Patriots’ victory over the Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX, but Butler’s exit from the team ended awkwardly.
Butler, who played 98 percent of the defensive snaps in 2017, was benched for Super Bowl LII that season. He played only one snap on special teams and didn’t appear on defense. He said he never got a straight answer from Belichick, who never provided a good explanation publicly.
Butler left for the Titans in free agency in 2018, playing in Tennessee for three seasons. He signed with the Cardinals last season but retired at the end of the preseason.
The Cardinals released him from the reserve/retired list, and the Patriots have given him another opportunity after a visit to team headquarters Monday.
