He is often lost in the shuffle of everything that went wrong for the Dallas Cowboys and their moribund defense in 2025, but cast your memory back to November of 2024 and you might remember that the team appeared to have found something in undrafted Josh Butler from Michigan State. He’d been pressed into action as a starter because of injuries to Trevon Diggs and DaRon Bland, and in his second outing in that role, he recorded three passes defended and a sack in a win over Washington.
Butler was the first player in Cowboys history to record those numbers in a game. The following week was Thanksgiving, and Butler started again, as the Cowboys faced the Giants. But he tore his ACL in the first half of the game, and his season was over.
More than a year later, the Cowboys were not certain to be bringing Butler back for 2026, but according to ESPN’s Todd Archer, on Thursday, the team did indeed tender him a one-year contract that should keep him on the roster.
Cowboys Tendered Josh Butler on Thursday
Archer wrote on Twitter/X: “The Cowboys have tendered both exclusive rights FAs: CBs Josh Butler ($1.075m) and Reddy Steward ($1.005m). They are under contract w/ the Cowboys and cannot sign with any other team. Team still working through final decisions on RFAs (Aubrey, Hoffman, Bass, Thomas).”
The Steward news was reported on Wednesday, but now Butler joins him as a developmental piece that the Cowboys hope will be able to contribute to a defensive backfield that was a mess in 2025.
As Archer mentioned, both players are exclusive rights free agents (with less than three years experience), which means they can’t sign elsewhere and are bound to the Cowboys for next season.
Cowboys’ Josh Butler Left Football After College
Butler is a unique story for the Cowboys in that he played at Michigan State, but left the game thereafter.
As he wrote on Twitter/X: “Don’t really think people realize I was not in football after college. From 2019 to 2023 I moved to LA to pursue at acting, music, and media career. It was blessings getting called in 2023 to play in the UFL just 4 year out of college. Then I got picked up to Dallas that following fall of 23’ & been here with Dallas since.”
When he tore his ACL, the Cowboys team site reported at the time, “Butler, a promising young cornerback who delivered a breakout game in instant classic against the Washington Commanders just four days prior, suffered a torn ACL in the waning moments of the first half against the Giants.”
He is promising, but Butler is not young, not after his post-collegiate hiatus. Butler will be 29 as he enters his third NFL season.
Finally Getting Back on the Field
For what it’s worth, too, Butler felt he could have helped the Cowboys last season, but the team opted to hold him out for more than a year after his knee surgery. Coach Brian Schottenheimer admitted that the situation was not ideal for Butler, but chalked it up to roster management.
Butler finally played in Week 18, but on the anniversary of his ACL tear, he wrote on Twitter/X, “Been a year. Been ready since week 6 and healthy. I just want to ball with the gang. This team so fun Trusting in God but I’m ready. Let’s go Cowboys.”
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