Tag: Hakeem Butler

Hakeem Butler contract details with Bengals revealed

Info on the contract the Bengals gave Hakeem Butler in free agency.

The Cincinnati Bengals added wide receiver Hakeem Butler in free agency, who immediately turned around and started making plays in practice.

That certainly matched the hype fans welcomed him with, considering Butler was just the UFL’s offensive player of the year.

Now we know more about his contract, too.

According to Aaron Wilson of KPRC2, Butler’s contract with the Bengals checks in at $915,000 and is for one year.

It’s not a bad deal for either party. Butler gets a chance to prove he once again belongs in the NFL and if he makes the 53, he’ll be playing in a stacked offense led by Joe Burrow.

For the Bengals, they get another huge body for the boundary in the same vein as Tee Higgins and Andrei Iosivas.

Here’s just one example of what the Bengals are getting already on that deal:

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New Bengals WR Hakeem Butler has a pretty wild highlight reel

The highlights for the newest Bengals WR are worth seeing.

The Cincinnati Bengals made three signings in free agency as training camp started — and one of them has an eye-popping highlight reel.

Said reel belongs to wideout Hakeem Butler, who has bounced around the NFL before going on to win offensive player of the year honors in other leagues such as the UFL.

For Bengals fans, some of the footage will look familiar, as Butler has a big frame and play style reminiscent of not only current players like Tee Higgins but other summer hype points of years past, such as Auden Tate.

Butler has a long climb to making the final roster at a stacked position on the depth chart. But if he can make these types of plays in practice and during preseason games, he won’t be a sleeper for long:

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Bengals sign free agent WR Hakeem Butler

The Bengals add a big name in free agency.

The Cincinnati Bengals hosted former NFL wideout Hakeem Butler late this week and signed him on Friday.

Ian Rapoport of NFL Network confirmed the signing.

Butler was the UFL Offensive Player of the Year last season and is a former fourth-rounder from 2019.

At 6’5″ and 227 pounds, Butler is a welcome addition to the depth chart in a similar mold as Tee Higgins and Andrei Iosivas. With the team not wanting either of those guys to tally too much wear and tear this summer, Butler gets a chance to prove he can be the sixth or even seventh wideout on the final 53-man roster.

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2 of best WRs in UFL this season are former Cardinals

Hakeem Butler was the Offensive Player of the Year and Jontre Kirklin tied for the most catches in the league.

The inaugural UFL season is complete with the Birmingham Stallions winning the championship, beating the San Antonio Brahmas 25-0 over the weekend.

Now players are free to try out and sign with the NFL if they want to try and pursue that dream.

Two former Cardinals had great seasons, both receivers.

Hakeem Butler and Jontre Kirklin were two of the best receivers in the league this season.

Butler was the UFL’s Offensive Player of the Year playing for the St. Louis Battlehawks.

He had 45 receptions for a league-high 652 yards and five touchdowns.

Kirklin, who played for the San Antonio Brahmas, tied for the most receptions in the league with 56, gaining 614 receiving yards.

Butler was a fourth-round draft pick of the Cardinals in 2019.

Kirklin was a rookie free agent who signed with the Cardinals after going undrafted. He stood out in the preseason but it wasn’t enough to stick.

With their seasons, both should likely get a look or two from teams around the NFL as training camps approach next month.

Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple podcasts.

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Should the Vikings look at Hakeem Butler after standout UFL season?

Should the Vikings look at Hakeem Butler after standout season? The team is in need of wide receiver help and his size makes it interesting.

Fans of Spring football have been conscious of the idea for decades. Leagues have come and gone, but one thing stays true and positive throughout: the players in these leagues get a chance to showcase themselves.

Wide receiver Hakeem Butler is the latest to take full advantage of the opportunity.

The former Arizona Cardinal has been receiving attention ever since his time at Iowa State. His size and style made him standout but the dominance he showed in college didn’t translate to the NFL. After playing for four NFL teams, two CFL teams, and an XFL team, Butler landed in the UFL with the St. Louis Battlehawks. He would again show his dominance and accumulated a league-leading 652 receiving yards and five touchdowns for the Battlehawks this season.

Butler is reported to be having a visit with the Carolina Panthers this week. This raises the question of whether the Vikings should also be scheduling a visit with him while they search for a WR3 in the offense.

Butler would serve as a nice compliment as his style and size vastly differ from that of Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison. The offense as a whole is going to be looking different with quarterback play up in the air, why not give whoever is under center all the help they can get?

Panthers reportedly expected to work out UFL Offensive Player of the Year Hakeem Butler

Report: Panthers expected to work out 2024 UFL Offensive Player of the Year Hakeem Butler

The Carolina Panthers may be giving an interesting name a second look.

As first reported by NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport on Monday, the team is expected to work out wide receiver Hakeem Butler before the summer break. Butler, who spent part of the 2020 campaign in Carolina, was just named the United Football League’s Offensive Player of the Year as a member of the St. Louis Battlehawks.

A fourth-round pick in the 2019 NFL draft, Butler was waived by the Arizona Cardinals at the beginning of his second pro campaign. The Panthers came calling shortly after, inking the Iowa State University standout to their practice squad on Sept. 18, 2020.

Just 11 days later, the Philadelphia Eagles swooped in—signing Butler away from the group and onto their active roster. He’d appear in just two games before being waived by the Eagles on Oct. 31.

Following a brief stint in the Canadian Football League, Butler was taken in the fifth round of the 2023 XFL Supplemental draft by the St. Louis Battlehawks. He went on to record 51 catches for 599 yards and eight touchdowns that season.

The 6-foot-5, 227-pounder returned to the Battlehawks in late 2023, when the organization had moved into the UFL. Butler’s award-winning season saw him amass a league-leading 652 receiving yards on 45 receptions.

Players from the UFL can be signed starting on June 18.

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Should Rams give UFL standout Hakeem Butler a shot this summer?

Hakeem Butler was the UFL’s Offensive Player of the Year and he could get another shot in the NFL. Should the Rams give him an opportunity?

As talented as Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp are, the Los Angeles Rams have been looking for additional help at wide receiver. They re-signed Demarcus Robinson and drafted Jordan Whittington, but more notably, they showed at least some level of interest in Mike Evans and Rome Odunze this offseason.

Though they didn’t many any splashes at wide receiver, there’s still time for the Rams to find another player who could contribute in 2024. One possibility is Hakeem Butler of the UFL.

Butler was named the UFL’s Offensive Player of the Year after leading the league in receiving yards (652) with an average of 14.5 yards per catch. His five touchdown catches were second in the UFL, as well.

Though his Battlehawks lost to the Brahmas in the conference title game on Sunday, he still put together a strong performance with six catches for 59 yards, including a spectacular 28-yard reception that he hauled in with one hand.

If the Rams or another team were to sign Butler this offseason, it wouldn’t be his first shot in the NFL. Butler was actually a fourth-round pick by the Cardinals in 2019 but never caught a pass in the league after also getting opportunities with the Panthers, Eagles and Steelers since 2020.

What makes Butler intriguing for the Rams is his play style. He’s 6-foot-5 and about 225 pounds, which would make him by far the team’s biggest wideout; Nacua and Kupp are both the tallest at 6-foot-2. He plays “above the rim,” so to speak, as evidenced by his leaping grab in the clip above.

Wade Phillips, the Brahmas head coach, was impressed by Butler’s play in Sunday’s game and had a great message for him afterwards. He told Butler he would talk to all of the people he knows in the NFL that he belongs in the league.

“I’m going to tell everyone in the NFL that I talk to (that) you need to be playing,” Phillips said. “You deserve it.”

Butler would still have an uphill climb toward making a 53-man roster, but after the way he played in the UFL, he at least deserves a chance to compete for a spot in training camp and the preseason. The fact that he’s still competing and trying to make it in professional football shows he’s dedicated to the game.

The Rams could use a big red-zone threat like Butler to complement the styles of Kupp and Nacua. He’s far from a lock to contribute in 2024 but he’s worth a shot after playing so well in the UFL.

Former Cowboys HC Wade Phillips recommends NFL teams call this WR ASAP

From @ToddBrock24f7: After coaching against Hakeem Butler in his UFL conference title game, Wade Phillips says he’ll be talking up the WR for another NFL try.

As a longtime defensive coordinator and head coach at the NFL level, Wade Phillips knows talent when he sees it. Over his 59 games (playoffs included) on the Cowboys sidelines, he oversaw such notables as Tony Romo, Marion Barber III, Terrell Owens, Dez Bryant, Jason Witten, Flozell Adams, Marcus Spears, Greg Ellis, DeMarcus Ware, Terence Newman, and Sean Lee. Factor in his other stints in New Orleans, Philadelphia, Denver, Buffalo, Atlanta, San Diego, Houston, and his Super Bowl-winning effort with the Rams, and it’s safe to say Phillips is a more than qualified evaluator of who can play in the pros.

And the 76-year-old coach has a new name for NFL clubs looking for pass-catching help.

Phillips is now running things for the UFL’s San Antonio Brahmas, who faced the St. Louis Battlehawks this past weekend in a conference title game. And while the Brahmas escaped St. Louis with a 25-15 upset win, one Battlehawks player in particular made quite an impression, on both Phillips and the rest of the spring league.

Wide receiver Hakeem Butler, named last week as the UFL’s Offensive Player of the Year, had compiled 45 catches for a league-high 652 yards and five touchdowns over the team’s 10 regular-season games. The 28-year-old former Iowa State Cyclone then added to his stats on Sunday with six more receptions for 59 yards- to lead the favored Battlehawks- in a comeback bid that fell short.

During postgame handshakes, though, Phillips had an encouraging message for Butler, telling him he’d be recommending him to NFL squads.

Unlike ex-Birmingham Stallions kicker Brandon Aubrey, who came to the Cowboys from the USFL as a virtual unknown, the 6-foot-5-inch Butler has had previous looks from several NFL teams.

He was a fourth-round draft pick by the Cardinals back in 2019, but missed his rookie season with a broken hand suffered in camp. He played in two games for the Eagles the following year: on his lone offensive snap, in a contest versus the Giants, Butler was targeted but did not make the catch.

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After being cut by Philadelphia in summer 2021, Butler made a go of it in the CFL with both the BC Lions and Edmonton Elks before joining the Battlehawks in 2023 in XFL play. He did well enough there that the Steelers signed him last May, but he was released before the season began and he returned to the Battlehawks for the UFL’s inaugural campaign.

Butler will be free to sign with any team that deems him worthy of another shot in the NFL. And although the Cowboys may appear to be full up on receivers at the moment, their former head coach would give the young man a glowing recommendation if asked.

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Former Carolina Panthers WR wins 2024 UFL Offensive Player of the Year award

Hakeem Butler, once a Carolina Panther for 11 days, has been named the UFL’s Offensive Player of the Year.

For the second time in the last four months, a former Carolina Panther has been named an offensive player of the year.

On Friday, the United Football League announced wide receiver Hakeem Butler as their 2024 Offensive Player of Year. (Yes, he was a former Carolina Panther.)

Butler, a fourth-round pick in the 2019 NFL draft, was waived by the Arizona Cardinals at the beginning of his second pro campaign. The Panthers came calling shortly after, inking the Iowa State University standout to their practice squad on Sept. 18, 2020.

But just 11 days later, the Philadelphia Eagles swooped in—signing Butler away from the group and onto their active roster. He’d appear in just two games before being waived by the Eagles on Oct. 31.

Following a brief stint in the Canadian Football League, Butler was taken in the fifth round of the 2023 XFL Supplemental draft by the St. Louis Battlehawks. He went on to record 51 catches for 599 yards and eight touchdowns that season.

The 6-foot-5, 227-pounder returned to the Battlehawks in late 2023, when the organization had moved into the UFL. Butler’s award-winning season saw him amass a league-leading 652 receiving yards on 45 receptions.

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Philadelphia Eagles waive OL Harry Crider

Philadelphia Eagles waive OL Harry Crider

The Eagles are heading to New Jersey to face the Jets for a week of practice and before boarding a bus, the Birds released Hakeem Butler and former Indiana center, Harry Crider.

On Sunday, Philadelphia also waived wide receiver Jhamon Ausbon and cornerback Lavert Hill.

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