FOXBORO – Malcolm Butler’s comeback bid seems to be over.
The Patriots positioned Butler on injured reserve Tuesday, ending his season in New England. The 32-year-old was trying a return to the NFL after retiring from soccer final 12 months. Butler had been operating with the Pats’ second-string protection in coaching camp and performed of their preseason opener, a sport most starters sat out.
Butler performed his final full season in 2020, when he totaled 100 tackles, 4 interceptions and 14 go deflections with the Titans. He performed in Tennessee from 2018-20, after spending the primary 4 years of his profession in New England. Butler is finest remembered for making a game-saving, goal-line interception within the closing seconds of Super Bowl XLIX as an undrafted rookie.
Butler made the Pro Bowl in 2015, then unceremoniously left New England as a free agent within the spring of 2018. His final sport as a Patriot stays Super Bowl LII, when coach Bill Belichick benched him for causes that stay unknown. This summer season, Butler disclosed that he and Belichick spoke after that sport about his benching and had since patched issues up.
The Patriots additionally positioned backup cornerback Joejuan Williams on injured reserve Tuesday, likewise ending his season, and waived backup punter Jake Julien. Williams, a second-round choose in 2019, had his proper shoulder wrapped after the Patriots’ preseason opener in opposition to the Giants final Thursday He was considered as a protracted shot to make the roster.
The 6-foot-3, 212-pound nook has didn’t reside as much as his draft billing, posting simply 18 tackles and two go breakups in his finest season of 2020. Without him and Butler, the Patriots are all the way down to Jalen Mills, Jonathan Jones, Terrance Mitchell, Shaun Wade and rookies Marcus Jones and Jack Jones on their cornerback depth chart.
Tuesday’s transactions put the group at 84 gamers on the day NFL groups have been required to trim their rosters to 85. The league’s subsequent cutdown deadline is Aug. 23, when groups should be all the way down to 80 gamers. Final 53-man rosters can be by 4 p.m. on Aug. 30.
It’s doable Butler, who signed a two-year contract this spring, may return for the 2023 season. Though at his age, he would face an uphill battle in opposition to incumbent cornerbacks Mills, Marcus Jones and Jack Jones, with Jonathan Jones and Mitchell additionally presumably returning in the event that they re-sign after taking part in out contract years.
Source: www.bostonherald.com