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Malcolm Butler recently re-signed with the New England Patriots, which was quite the surprise given how his first tenure with the team ended. Butler was benched in Super Bowl LII before he left the Patriots in free agency, and he still may not know why.
After Butler signed with the Tennessee Titans in 2018, he said he never received an explanation from Belichick for why he played just one special teams snap in the Super Bowl against the Philadelphia Eagles. The veteran cornerback was asked on Monday if him and Belichick discussed that infamous decision when Butler met with the coach this offseason. He claims they did not.
“We just talked about the contract. He asked me was I locked in? Was I all in? Ready to play?” Butler said, via Mark Daniels of the Providence Journal. “I told him, ‘Yeah, I am.’ He said, ‘I know you took a year off and the transition is going to be hard since you took a year off’ He knows I’m up for the challenge. I can take that challenge. I can come in here, work hard and take on any role. No, there wasn’t much to talk about because I’m here to work.”
Is it possible that Butler still has not been given a reason? It seems highly unlikely, but you never know with Belichick.
The Patriots were torched defensively in their Super Bowl loss to the Eagles. They could have used Butler, and some players were openly unhappy about the Butler benching. We may have finally gotten an explanation for the head-scratching decision last year.
