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What the New England Patriots First-Round Tender on Malcolm Butler Means

By Logan Jakubajtys

Jan 16, 2016; Foxborough, MA, USA; New England Patriots cornerback Malcolm Butler (21) celebrates from the field against the Kansas City Chiefs during the second half in the AFC Divisional round playoff game at Gillette Stadium. The Patriots won 20-27. Mandatory Credit: Stew Milne-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 16, 2016; Foxborough, MA, USA; New England Patriots cornerback Malcolm Butler (21) celebrates from the field against the Kansas City Chiefs during the second half in the AFC Divisional round playoff game at Gillette Stadium. The Patriots won 20-27. Mandatory Credit: Stew Milne-USA TODAY Sports /
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New England Patriots cornerback Malcolm Butler will likely return in 2017, as the team has placed a first-round tender on him. Here’s what that means.

On Tuesday the New England Patriots placed a first-round tender on their top cornerback, Malcolm Butler. With that, he will likely remain in Foxboro for the upcoming season.

Butler is a restricted free agent, so while he is free to listen to offers from other teams there are many more rules involved.

To start, the tender means that the Patriots will pay the cornerback $3.91 million in 2017, a big increase from the $600,000 he made last year.

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If another team makes a better offer to Malcolm Butler, he can sign the offer sheet. The Patriots, however, would have the chance to match that contract to retain the cornerback. If New England did not want to match the offer, Butler would join the new team. The reason this likely will not happen is that because of the tender the Patriots placed, the new team would need to send a first-round NFL Draft pick to New England in exchange for signing Butler. First round picks are usually not given up that easily.

Other teams can sign Butler to an offer sheet until April 21st.

The New England Patriots will likely use this offseason to work out a long-term deal with their top cornerback. Butler will likely be looking for a salary in line with the top corners in the NFL, who are set to sign deals between $10 to $12 million this offseason.

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Butler should be a Patriots priority, as his role has grown since his breakout moment in Super Bowl XLIX. In 2016, he had a career-high four interceptions with 16 passes defended. Butler has started all 32 regular season games over the last two seasons, and started in each of the five postseason games as well.

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Relax for now Patriots fans, Malcolm Butler will be here in 2017.

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