Getty Titans CB Malcolm Butler.
After saving more than $15 million on Dak Prescott’s megadeal and another $17 million by restructuring three-fifths of their offensive line, the Dallas Cowboys are ready to spend — and perhaps spend big — when NFL free agency kicks off next week.
Throw a dart, and you’re likely to hit a position of need for the Cowboys, particularly on defense. With that in mind, Bleacher Report considers the team a “realistic landing spot” for cornerback Malcolm Butler, who’s free to sign immediately, following his March 10 release from the Tennessee Titans.
Via BR’s Brad Gagnon:
The 31-year-old didn’t live up to his five-year, $61.3 million contract with the Tennessee Titans, but he still intercepted four passes and surrendered a passer rating of just 83.2 into his coverage in 2020. He’d fit well with a team that has Super Bowl hopes in 2021 and is in need of a solid No. 2 outside corner.
The Dallas Cowboys fit that profile after struggling immensely on defense in 2020, especially because they’re clearly gunning for it all with Dak Prescott’s new contract and they could lose both Chidobe Awuzie and Jourdan Lewis on the free-agent market.
With Butler, they’d get older but more accomplished, potentially at a similar price because of the limited upside associated with a 31-year-old cover man.
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Background on Butler
A 2014 undrafted free agent out of small-school West Alabama, Butler is known for his time with the New England Patriots, during which he captured two Lombardi Trophies. (You might remember his stunning, game-clinching goal-line interception against the Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX?)
Butler (5-11, 190) spent four years in New England before landing a five-year, $61 million contract from the Titans in 2018. He never lived up to the payday but was respectable in coverage, totaling nine interceptions and 35 pass deflections across 41 games (36 starts) from 2018-2020.
For his career, the former All-Pro and Pro Bowler has made 406 combined tackles, 82 pass breakups, 17 INTs, five forced fumbles and two defensive touchdowns over 100 appearances (84 starts).
Butler is one marquee name amid a star-studded unrestricted free-agent CB class that includes Patrick Peterson and Richard Sherman, as well as incumbent Cowboys starters Jourdan Lewis and Chidobe Awuzie and key backup/special teams ace C.J. Goodwin.
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Cowboys Reportedly Unlikely to Re-Sign Chido
Of the many UFAs slated to hit the open market, Awuzie is among those expected to find a new NFL home. The Dallas Morning News reported that the 2017 second-round pick is unlikely to score a second contract from the Cowboys when the league’s signing period officially opens on March 17.
The newspaper’s report said:
The starting cornerback had an uneven season slowed by injuries. Awuzie knew 2020 was a big year as he entered a contract year. When he played, Awuzie had one interception and five pass breakups in eight games. Pro Football Reference charted Awuzie with allowing a career-high 14.8 yards per reception. The Cowboys already have a talented corner in Trevon Diggs, and maybe finding another corner in the first or second rounds is the way to strengthen this position.
Spotrac estimates Awuzie landing a four-year, $34.052 million deal that pays $8.5 million annually. That would make him the league’s 15th-highest-paid cornerback, sandwiched in between the Chargers’ Casey Hayward ($34.250 million) and Detroit’s Jeff Okudah ($33.528 million).
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Follow Zack Kelberman on Twitter: @KelbermanNFL