Malcolm Butler Reportedly Wanted to Be Traded to Saints 'Badly

In the wake of trade rumors between the New England Patriots and New Orleans Saints involving cornerback Malcolm Butler, it was reported Thursday that Butler wanted a deal to be struck.According to Mike Giardi of CSNNE, Butler was very much in favor of being shipped from the defending Super Bowl champions to the Saints:"He wanted New Orleans. He wanted them badly. They couldn't work out a deal. So what's he supposed to do now' Sit at home' No, you suck it up. You have to turn yourself back into a Patriot at least for a year, and hope.Who knows, maybe you do your work and maybe they say,'Hey, Malcolm, you know what, we can't give you [Stephon] Gilmore money. But maybe we can find something. Maybe we've got $10 [million] or $11 million."Butler reported to the Patriots' voluntary workout Wednesday despite not having a long-term contract in place.In April, hesigneda one-year tender that will pay him $3.91 million in 2017.The Patriots and Saints flirted on the trade front, and while that did result in New Orleans sending wide receiver Brandin Cooks to New England, Malcolm Butler wasn't part of the deal.Butlervisited with the Saintsin March and held contract talks, but in order to acquire him, New Orleans would have had to sign him to an offer sheet and surrender the No. 11 overall pick in the 2017 NFL draft or orchestrate a trade with the Pats.Neither of those things happened, which leaves Butler back where he started.While New England has been unwilling to sign Butler to a long-term deal thus far, it did ink Gilmore to a five-year, $65 million contract in free agency, perSpotrac.The 27-year-old Butler is a one-time Pro Bowler and is coming off his best season, with four interceptions in 2016.He is best known as the Super Bowl XLIX hero who picked off Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson to preserve New England's win.
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