Malcolm Butler Returns to the NFL

Malcolm Butler’s last NFL game was not as a member of the Tennessee Titans after all.

The veteran cornerback, who retired last year months after the Titans released him, is headed back to where his career started. Butler has agreed to a two-year deal with the New England Patriots, according to multiple reports Wednesday.

Word spread a little more than a month ago that the 32-year-old was training with an eye toward a comeback.

The decision to go back to New England, though, is somewhat surprising given the way his time with that franchise ended. He was benched for Super Bowl LII, which the Patriots lost to the Philadelphia Eagles, after he had started 15 games in the regular season and two more in the playoffs.

He viewed his move to the Titans as a chance for a fresh start.

In three years with Tennessee, Butler played 41 games. He made 186 tackles, intercepted nine passes (two were returned for touchdowns) and recovered one fumble. In four seasons with the Patriots, he made 204 tackles, intercepted eight passes and forced four fumbles.

Butler retired unexpectedly late last August, five months after he signed with the Arizona Cardinals. He was with Arizona because the Titans released him last March with two years remaining on a five-year, $61.25 million deal that brought him to Tennessee in 2018 after four seasons with the Patriots. He had just completed a 2020 season in which he tied a career-high with four interceptions, led the team with 14 passes defended and topped 100 tackles for the first time in his career.

With that move, the Titans freed up a little more than $10 million in salary cap space. had. At the time, he said he had “a lot of gas left in the tank.”

They effectively replaced him last season with free agent Jackrabbit Jenkins, who recently was released to create salary cap space this year.

Butler recently turned 32 years old and has decided to start over – in more ways than one.