Butler signs massive deal with Titans -- what's next for Patriots' secondary?

Malcolm Butler is going to get paid.

The cornerback has reportedly agreed to a five-year contract with the Titans worth more than $61 million. According to a league source, the deal is worth $30 million in guaranteed money.

Butler leaves New England after four wildly eventful years with the Patriots, going from undrafted free agent to Super Bowl hero to one who ended up being benched for Super Bowl LII. His legacy includes two Super Bowl titles, one that was cemented when he made a game-saving play to help shock the Seahawks at the end of Super Bowl XLIX. Brian Flores’ call of “Malcolm, Go” at the end of that game became a seminal moment for the team and for the burgeoning legend of the young cornerback.

But it also includes the sour ending of Super Bowl LII, where he was benched in the loss to the Eagles as the Philly offense riddled a New England secondary that went without Butler from start to finish. It was a sad and strange finale for a cornerback who had done so much to contribute to the success of the franchise over the previous four years.

"It is what it is," the cornerback shrugged sadly on his way to the bus after the game.

In his stretch with New England, few players displayed the manic, snap-to-snap intensity that the 5-foot-11, 190-pound Butler had on a regular basis. Playing like every play was his last, the cornerback out of West Alabama was relentless in coverage — when he would get beat, it was never because he’d take a play off. Butler was all emotion, all of the time, wearing it all on his sleeve. In all, he had eight regular-season picks in 59 games. In addition, he was a rock at the cornerback position, playing 98 percent of the regular-season snaps in 2017 and 97 percent in 2016.

That combination endeared him to coaches and teammates alike.

"I would characterize my relationship with Malcolm as extremely strong,” said defensive coordinator Matt Patricia. “I love Malcolm a lot. He's like -- like all of my players -- like one of my sons."

But things appeared to go south between the player and the team last offseason. While Butler may have been hoping for an early deal that would keep him in New England before he became an unrestricted free agent, he watched as the Patriots gave a big contract to Stephon Gilmore. A rumored deal that would have sent him to the Saints wasn’t consummated. He returned for the 2017 season, and kept quiet when he was asked about his deal. It all ended for him on the sidelines of the Super Bowl, sitting and watching as New England suffered a surprising loss to the Eagles.

So where do both sides go from here?


Now, Butler figures to start in the same secondary as former New England teammate Logan Ryan, and play for Tennessee head coach Mike Vrabel, who also made his bones as a linebacker for the Patriots. As for New England, the Patriots need to try and locate a replacement. Eric Rowe has seen plenty of time the last year-plus, and at this point, would likely be the guy who would step into the full-time starters’ role. (That was the case at the Super Bowl.) But there are other possibilities in-house at the back end of the depth chart — the coaching staff loves youngster Jonathan Jones. (At one point last year, Butler told me Jones reminded him “of a young me.”) There are also a handful of mid-range possibilities in free agency, while the draft has a number of intriguing prospects who could fill the bill for New England

Ultimately, whatever player the Patriots end up using to replace Butler, they’ll be hard-pressed to replicate the amazing roller-coaster ride the cornerback took in his four seasons with New England. In the end, it took three years to turn “Malcolm, Go” into “Malcolm, Gone.”