Tag: Adam Butler

Raiders re-sign DT Adam Butler on one-year deal

Adam Butler is back with the Raiders on a one-year deal

Few Raiders defenders had a bigger late season surge than Adam Butler. He had four of his five sacks in the nine games after Antonio Pierce took over as head coach, including a sack in each of the final three games to finish the season leading all Raiders interior defenders in sacks on the season.

That effort has earned him a return for a second season with the Raiders. The seventh year pro has re-signed with the Raiders on a one-year deal according to a source.

Butler originally joined the Raiders as a reserve/future signing following las season. He was considered one of those former Patriots signings as he spent the first four seasons of his career in New England before spending a season in Miami in 2021.

A failed physical designation had him cut prior to the 2022 season, and he didn’t play that season.

Even with the addition of Christian Wilkins to the Raiders defensive interior, they were still not done at the position. A return was always the most likely scenario for Butler and the longer he remained unsigned, the more likely it seemed.

Butler becomes the third Raiders free agent to re-sign with the team along with RB Ameer Abdullah and C Andre James.

What Condition the Position is in: Assessing Raiders level of need at DT ahead of free agency

What Condition Raiders Position is in: Defensive tackle

With free agency under a month away, it’s time to check in on the Raiders’ defensive tackle position to give it a condition of either Strong, Stable, Unstable, Serious, or Critical.

Starters: Jerry Tillery, ?
Backups: Byron Young, Nesta Jade Silvera, Marquan McCall
Free Agents: Bilal Nichols, Adam Butler, John Jenkins

The past two drafts the Raiders have used four draft picks on the defensive tackle position and have little to show for it. They got no starters out of it and one of the four (Young) was on the active roster all of last season. Veterans Bilal Nichols and John Jenkins started every game last season with Jerry Tillery appearing in all 17 games, starting six.

Condition: Critical

Three of the four interior defensive lineman who were regular parts in the rotation last season are set to be free agents. Only Tillery remains and he wasn’t even a regular starter due to his deficiencies against the run. Adam Butler played well enough to earn a return. If they bring him back, they would still need to add one more talented interior lineman. If they don’t, they would need a couple.

5 Raiders free agents they should prioritize re-signing

5 Raiders free agents they should prioritize re-signing

All told, the Raiders have 17 players who are headed for free agency in March. They will likely bring back a few of them. Some because they legitimately don’t want to lose them. Others because it’s an easy transaction to give them another shot at winning a spot for next season.

Inevitably there will be players they want back who will leave. But not because they didn’t try. This is about those players they should put in the effort to bring back.

Ballers & Busters for Raiders Week 17 loss to Colts

Raiders went out swinging, but went out just the same.

After a big win at Arrowhead over the defending champion Chiefs in Week 16, a trip to Indianapolis to face Gardner Minshew and the Colts seemed like a very winnable game for the Raiders.

It isn’t really that simple, though. The Raiders beat the Chiefs thanks to a couple of defensive TD’s. They can’t rely on that every week.

By half time, the Colts had scored off two big catches and the Raiders offense managed just a field goal. The Colts didn’t need to score a touchdown in the second half and still pulled out the win.[anyclip-media thumbnail=”undefined” playlistId=”undefined” content=”dW5kZWZpbmVk”][/anyclip-media]

Ballers & Busters for Raiders Week 10 win over Jets

Ballers & Busters for Raiders Week 10 win over Jets

The way this one played out was pretty much exactly as everyone expected. In the lead up to the game, I basically kept thinking to myself ‘first to 16 wins’. That’s because ain’t nobody was gonna be scoring more than one touchdown and if either team did, that would be the deciding factor.

That team was the Raiders, who beat the Jets 16-12.

Ballers

LB Robert Spillane

Even if you remove his late game clutch interception, Spillane might still have been the best player in this contest. And that’s saying a lot.

Spillane was on a mission. At least four times in this game, plays he made were the deciding factor in stopping a Jets’ drive.

Come the second quarter, the Jets had scored on their first three possessions to go up 9-3. Thanks to Spillane, they wouldn’t score again until the fourth quarter.

Their next three possessions ended with Spillane making the play. A run stuff for no gain on third and two, a sack on second and two, and forcing a hold on third and 21 then making the stop on third and 22.

Then with the Jets within four at 16-12 and driving late in the fourth quarter, he stepped in front of the Zach Wilson pass for his third interception of the season. This one with a cast on his right hand. Unbelievable.

TE Michael Mayer

It was a back-and-forth game with the Raiders failing to take the lead once in the first three quarters. That ended on the first play of the fourth quarter when Aidan O’Connell escaped pressure and put a ball up high where only Mayer could get it and Mayer leapt in the air, plucking it from over the top of the defender to the go-ahead score.

It was Mayer’s first touchdown as a pro and it was a beauty. And in a game like this, it proved to be enough to get the W.

DE Maxx Crosby

This game started poorly for the Raiders, with a 41-yard catch and run that put them in scoring range. It would go no further thanks to Crosby. He flew in for what should be credited as a sack. And when I say that, I think a rule change is in order, which states that if you have the player wrapped up and he is flagged for intentional grounding, that should be a sack. For the purposes of the game, it was the same. The Jets lost ten yards and a down and couldn’t make it back up, settling for a field goal.

It was big plays on each drive that put the Jets in scoring range. Their third one came off of an interception and moved them into first and goal at the three. A touchdown here may have been devastating in a game this close. So, Crosby wrecked it. He forced a holding penalty that backed them up to the 13. Then was in on the run stop on second and goal and the Jets would settle for a third field goal.

DT Jerry Tillery, DT John Jenkins, DT Adam Butler

Jenkins had a run stuff on the Jets’ first drive. Tillery upended the second drive when he forced a holding penalty. Butler ended the third drive on third and goal when he batted the ball down at the line.

The next possession, Jenkins had another run stuff for no gain. Then the drive after that, he got one of his big mitts on a pass to bat it at the line. Come the third quarter, Butler had a tackle for loss on a three-and-out.

The first drive of the fourth quarter ended with Tillery getting all the way out to the left boundary to help Divine Deablo lead Zach Wilson out of bounds to end the drive. And on the Spillane interception, it was Tillery who got around his man to get pressure in Wilson’s face and force the throw.

RB Josh Jacobs

His two fumbles in the game really had me thinking whether he deserved to be on this list. In the end I decided that because his hard running was such a key factor in the Raiders scoring 16 points in the first place, he deserved more credit than blame.

His first fumble came on the tail end of a 40-yard burst and it bounced out of bounds. The run put the Raiders at the 13-yard-line. The next play he ran for five yards to the eight. Two plays later, they scored the touchdown.

In the early going, yards were tough to come by for Jacobs against a stout Jets defensive front. Even so, his running was a major factor in several scoring drives. Their second scoring drive came near the end of the second quarter and featured runs of six yards and eight yards — both of which the Raiders made the first down on the next play.

The third scoring drive saw Jacobs convert a third and two and a fourth and one along with the longest play of the drive that went for 12 yards on a catch in the left flat. That drive tied the game at 9-9.

Just prior to his lost fumble late in the fourth, Jacobs showed he is still a strong runner late in games, when broke several tackles and carried defenders the final five yards of a seven-yard first down run. He also had a nine-yard run and converted on third and one on that drive.

Jacobs finished with 116 yards rushing — his first time going over 100 yards this season — and added two catches for 11 yards.

K Daniel Carlson

The Jets have the man once known at ‘Greg the Leg’ and ‘Legatron’. And the Raiders have the best in the game today in Carlson. Both kickers were doing work in this one, with Carlson splitting them from 40, 41, and 54 yards.

Honorable Mention

WR DeAndre Carter — Had a 32-yard kick return to the Jets 45 that helped lead to the game-tying field goal. Later had a 15-yard run on fourth and one.

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Ballers & Busters for Raiders Week 8 loss vs Lions

Ballers & Busters for Raiders Week 8 loss vs Lions

Every week seems to be worse than the last for these Raiders. Which is saying a lot considering how terrible they looked last week in Chicago.

This week they were in Detroit against a much better team. And they were thoroughly outclassed and outcoached en route to a Lions 26-14 win.

Despite three takeaways, the offense Raiders never led.

They were down 9-0 early on. The Raiders had an improbable touchdown drive in the game. Improbable considering they did absolutely nothing on offense the rest of the game. The Raiders twice pulled to within two points, but both Raiders scores were immediately answered with a touchdown drive by the Lions.

Ballers

DE Maxx Crosby

Crosby’s place atop the Ballers is becoming like the RSTLNE on Wheel of Fortune. It’s the given.

Crosby flew in to make a tackle for no gain on a run that put the Lions in third and long on their first drive and they settled for a field goal. Later in the first quarter, he forced Jared Goff to step up in the pocket where he was hit and threw incomplete. They couldn’t pick up the third and long and punted. One of just two Lions punts in the game.

He wasn’t fooled on an end around in the second quarter lay a big hit on Jameson Williams that knocked his helmet off for a six-yard loss. The Lions would settle for another field goal to make it a 9-0 lead. He had another run stuff for no gain to start the next drive.

The first drive of the third quarter for the Lions, Crosby had a run stuff at the line and later ripped the ball out inside the four-yard-line to keep the Lions from putting the game away. They would ultimately put the game away, but Crosby’s efforts kept the Raiders in it until the fourth quarter.

DT Adam Butler

To lead out the second quarter, the Lions were in scoring position again. They would line up in second and goal from the 16 and Butler made a run stop for a two-yard loss to put them in third and goal from the 18. They couldn’t pick it up and settled for another field goal.

The next drive, on third and nine from the 15, Butler batted down a pass at the line, and the Lions settled for a third field goal. He added a QB hit for an incompletion in the third quarter.

CB Marcus Peters

He finally got one. After going for the pick or the strip at the expense of making the tackle in the first seven games, Peters finally got an interception. And as he has done six times previously in his career, Peters took that pick and returned it for a touchdown. He went 75 yards for that score too, scoring as many points all by himself as the entire offense did.

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Former Patriot says he felt ‘disrespected’ by Bill Belichick after Sunday’s game

A former Patriots Super Bowl champion felt disrespected by coach Bill Belichick after Sunday’s game

New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick met up with a lot of old friends in Sunday’s 21-17 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders. Former Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, who is now the Raiders’ coach, has recruited a plethora of talent from New England to Las Vegas.

One of those players is defensive lineman Adam Butler.

Like others on the Raiders’ roster, Butler was looking forward to having a post-game chat with the coach he won Super Bowl LIII with back in February 2019. But according to the veteran defender, it was a cold response that didn’t go anything like he expected.

“It did make me very upset that Bill didn’t even have the respect for me to say anything after the game,” said Butler. “Not even congratulate me. Tell me, ‘You look good. You don’t look good’, whatever. ‘Kiss my ass’, something. But he didn’t say anything. I kind of felt disrespected. It made me feel bad. I know Coach Belichick got bigger things to worry about, obviously. They’re going through a tough time, but hell, wave or something.”

The Patriots are clearly going through a tough time right now with the team sitting at 1-5 and dead last in the AFC East division. These aren’t the same Patriots Butler remembers in his four-year run with the team.

But it’s still understandable why he might feel slighted after being denied an interaction with the coach that signed him as an undrafted rookie out of Vanderbilt.

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Ballers & Busters: Raiders preseason Week 1 vs 49ers

Your Ballers & Busters for Raiders preseason preseason opener

Sunday the Raiders took the field for the first time since the end of last season. And just as they did last preseason, there wasn’t much in the way of starters on the field.

Yeah, unlike years ago when the starters would at least play a series in the opener, these days they don’t see the field at all, making the preseason games all about the hopefuls proving themselves to try and earn a roster spot.

With that in mind, here are the standouts among those who took the field against the 49ers.

Ballers

QB Aidan O’Connell

The rookie balled out for three quarters. He completed 15 of 18 passes for 141 yards and a touchdown. And two of his three incompletions were drops. Very impressive first impression for the fourth round pick out of Purdue.

DE Jordan Willis, DE Isaac Rochell

The two of them shared a sack on third down to force the 49ers into a three-and-out to open the game. And then they were both forces on the outside the rest of their time on the field.

Willis had a pressure on the next drive that also resulted in a three-and-out and then Rochell had a pressure that helped lead to a sack on the 49ers third consecutive three-and-out to start the game.

Willis ended consecutive drives to end the first half. With a run stuff for no gain on 4th down and then a QB hit that resulted in a bad pass to send the two teams to the locker room with the Raiders holding a 14-7 lead.

The first 49ers possession of the third quarter had Rochell wreaking havoc on them. He got in the backfield to disrupt the play on a one yard run, then had two run stuffs for no gain.

TE Cole Fotheringham

Fotheringham was all over the place. First and foremost, he was the team’s leading receiver with 71 yards on five catches. Knowing that his best chance of making the roster will be with his special teams work, he had a tackle on a punt return as well. And for good measure, he had a couple of run blocks that led to good yardage too.

LB Curtis Bolton

The first tackle of the game was Bolton on the opening kickoff. Late in the third quarter, he came in at linebacker and made a impact there too. He laid the hit that forced the fumble for the Raiders’ first takeaway of the day. Then he ended Sam Darnold’s day with a couple blitzes that both led to incompletions and a 58-yard field goal attempt that missed wide right.

DT Neil Farrell Jr

With the score still tied at seven apiece late in the second quarter, the 49ers lined up to go for it on fourth and one. Jordan Willis would get the run stuff at the line, but it was Farrell who filled the gap to make it possible. Farrell was there again on fourth and one early in the third quarter to stuff Sam Darnold on his QB sneak attempt for another turnover on downs.

DT Adam Butler

On consecutive plays late in the first quarter, Butler got into the 49ers backfield. The first time, Trey Lance managed to escape, though he was only able to scramble for two yards. The next play Butler got pressure again, this time he wrapped up Lance for the sack. Butler later had a run stop as well.

S Roderic Teamer

As Roderic “Special” Teamer is want to do, he made a play as a gunner on special teams, stopping the return man for no gain at the 14-yard-line. He also had a couple assisted tackles in the pass game as well as the run game.

Honorable Mention

CB Sam Webb — Was in the right place when his receiver couldn’t get ahold of a pass and he picked it off and returned it to the two-yard-line.

RB Sincere McCormick — had two touchdowns in the game; one on the ground and one through, both from two yards out.

LB Amari Burney — Had a pursuit sack and made a great read on a pass over the middle to nearly pick it off.

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Raiders standouts on Day 2 of joint practices with 49ers

Raiders standouts on Day 2 of joint practices with 49ers

That’s a wrap for Raiders joint practices with the 49ers. It was an eventful couple days in some way. If by those ways you mean the Raiders defense which was getting their hands on the ball several times.

Here are the standouts from today’s practice:

LB Robert Spillane

The linebacker who has had all of one takeaway in his career, had a couple interceptions today. One came in 11-on-11s, the other in 7-on-7s.

CB Marcus Peters

The veteran former All Pro had interceptions on both days of the joint practices and his swagger is clearly rubbing off on the rest of the secondary.

WR Jakobi Meyers

With Hunter Renfrow not practicing, and Davante Adams going down injured on the first play of team sessions, Meyers was the only starter left. He had a touchdown on a slant to finish off the first drive of team sessions.

All QB’s

All three Raiders quarterbacks showed well today. Jimmy Garoppollo led the first team to a touchdown to Jakobi Meyers and two-point conversion to DeAndre Carter. Then Brian Hoyer nearly had a three-play touchdown drive which began with consecutive long completions to Keelan Cole and ended with a deep ball to Phillip Dorsett who wasn’t able to keep both feet inbounds in the back of the end zone. Aidan O’Connell had the best long ball completion of the day to fellow rookie Tre Tucker.

DE Issac Rochell

On more than one rep in DL vs OL drills, Rochell got through to the QB. First, driving his man back and then putting on a swim move to get into the pocket. Then getting his man off balance and shucking him aside to get pressure.

DE Maxx Crosby

Crosby was lined up across from the 49ers right tackle Colton McKivitz for a rep in drills. He made mincemeat of him, first leading him upfield before spinning inside to crash the pocket.

DT Adam Butler

The best spin move from the inside came from Butler who was able to leave his man flat footed with the move to get pressure.

70 days till Patriots season opener: Every player to wear No. 70 for New England

Here’s a list of every Patriots player to wear the No. 70 jersey number.

The regular season countdown has reached 70 days until kickoff for the New England Patriots.

So today, we’re looking at every Patriots player that has ever worn the No. 70 jersey in celebration of the rapidly approaching season opener against the Philadelphia Eagles.

There have been so many talented players that have worn No. 70 in New England, most notably Christian Barmore, Logan Mankins and Adrian Klemm in the Bill Belichick era of coaching.

Klemm, who was the first player drafted by Belichick in New England, is the Patriots’ current offensive line coach, while Barmore is a promising defensive talent potentially on the verge of a breakout year. Mankins, on the other hand, is a former six-time All-Pro and seven-time Pro Bowl guard for New England.

Here’s a list of every player that has ever worn the No. 70 throughout franchise history (via Pro Football Reference):