Cornerback Malcolm Butler is at somewhat of a crossroads in his career with the Tennessee Titans. The veteran is entering the third year of his five-year, $61.25 million contract and will be taking home $13.3 million in 2020.
While he has played better since stubbing his toe out of the gate in 2018, he has hardly justified what the Titans are paying him.
As a result, Butler could be playing for a new contract this season, with it being very possible the Titans cut him and his $14.2 million salary in 2021. At the very least, Tennessee will likely approach him about a restructure.
If Butler wants to keep his current contract or earn something close to it with another team, he’s going to have to stay healthy and improve his play.
In 2019, during an injury-shortened season, Butler posted a Pro Football Focus coverage grade of 64.2, which was lower than newly-signed veteran Johnathan Joseph, who notched a 65.0.
Why are we comparing those two?
Well, based on metrics, Joseph provided slightly better coverage last season than Butler, yet is making $11 million less this campaign. That’s a tough pill to swallow.
However, that didn’t stop NFL.com’s Cynthia Frelund from projecting big things for Butler, naming him the Titans player who will improve the most this coming season.
The thing about having an efficient offense like Tennessee’s — one that puts points on the board and eats up clock with a run-heavy approach — is that it can create a lot of work for the Titans’ pass defense. Think about it: Teams that fall behind and need to score in a hurry are forced to pass more often. That makes Butler’s ability to force incompletions a very valuable trait for the 2020 season. He forced an incompletion on 19.6 percent of his targets in 2019 (10 of 51, ninth-highest rate among CBs, min. 25 targets), per PFF. Butler’s coverage will be a key driver for the Titans’ win total.
Tennessee certainly hopes Frelund’s projection comes to fruition. After all, Butler is a key piece in a Titans secondary that has some new faces, including Joseph and second-round pick, Kristian Fulton.
Butler is going to have to step up in a big way in order to justify his contract, and even then it might not be enough with Fulton potentially waiting in the wings to take his spot on the boundary after this season.
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