{"id":1376,"date":"2016-09-13T18:10:36","date_gmt":"2016-09-13T22:10:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/?p=1376"},"modified":"2021-03-12T18:04:21","modified_gmt":"2021-03-12T23:04:21","slug":"the-brice-butler-dilemma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2016\/09\/13\/the-brice-butler-dilemma\/","title":{"rendered":"The Brice Butler Dilemma"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Dallas Cowboys<\/strong> traded a conditional pick to the Oakland Raiders<\/strong> for\u00a0Brice Butler<\/a><\/strong> on September 15, 2015. Dez Bryant<\/a><\/strong> suffered a foot injury and the Cowboys were in need of depth at the position. Butler had fallen out of favor with the Oakland\u2019s coaching staff, some citing his inability to cut back on mental errors<\/a>. Regardless, he was a good athlete with great size that was available. It was easy enough to understand the logic behind the move.<\/p>\n

The Brice Butler Dilemma<\/h2>\n

Butler struggled with hamstring issues throughout last\u00a0year, but did flash at times. You may be asking yourself\u2026 \u201cWhere\u2019s the dilemma?\u201d Well, here it is: Both Butler and Terrance Williams<\/a><\/strong> are in the last year of their contracts. Williams has significantly outplayed Butler up this point in their careers. But he\u00a0has also likely played himself out of Dallas. This becomes even more true\u00a0if he continues to develop and has his best season to date. The Cowboys can\u2019t sign both. They\u2019ve simply allocated too many resources already to the offensive side of the ball. The Cowboys\u00a0need to save their cap dollars to build the defense or extend offensive lineman Zach Martin<\/strong> and La\u2019el Collins<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Butler is roughly the same age as Williams, but will come exponentially cheaper than Williams if he were to re-sign. While\u00a0not a superior athlete to Williams, Butler\u00a0could be seen as a potential cap friendly acquisition for teams that are active in free agency. Butler would also provide stability on the outside while the Cowboys groom a rookie for the future. Devin Street<\/a><\/strong> was supposed to be that guy, but could never capitalize on his opportunities.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s impossible to know just how strongly the Cowboys feel about Butler. It\u2019s possible they really like him though, and have for a long time. Will McClay<\/strong> has done a fantastic job of running the pro personnel department and has helped the Cowboys acquire talent across the board. Butler was clearly a top target when Bryant went down last year. If they have indeed liked Butler for a long time, the solution is quite clear: re-sign him before\u00a0he breaks out.<\/p>\n

Around The League Examples<\/h3>\n

Don\u2019t let Butler flash his talent in a highly potent offense only to let him walk away and becomes someone else’s prize. Sure, a supplemental pick could be had if he signs a big enough contract, however that is very unlikely. Continuity is a major factor however, and the signing of Butler would allow the team to focus almost all of its draft resources on rebuilding the defense.<\/p>\n

Signing players\u00a0before their\u00a0breakout is always going to be the best way to build a team. For example, take Antonio Brown<\/a><\/strong>. The Pittsburgh Steelers<\/strong> handed him a five year $41,960,000 contract<\/a> coming off a season where he produced just 66 catches for 787 yards. The thought in the industry at the time was this was a direct response to the high contract demands of impending free agent Mike Wallace<\/a><\/strong>. Simply, they chose to get out in front of someone who they felt they could lock up easier.<\/p>\n

To make it more relatable, imagine if the Cowboys had signed Demarco Murray<\/strong> before his breakout season in 2014. Murray had dealt with some injuries in the years prior, but he did show promise by eclipsing the thousand yard mark whilst sporting a spry 5.2 yards per carry. Maybe Murray\u2019s contract demands were always too large. It’s\u00a0improbable however, that Murray would have been asking for that much more than Mark Ingram<\/a><\/strong>. Ingram\u00a0signed a four year 16 million dollar deal with the New Orleans Saints<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Making It Work<\/h3>\n

There are certainly some moving parts here as well. The Cowboys only project to have roughly eight million dollars in cap space next year. Offering Butler two and half million of that could be viewed as reckless spending.\u00a0Doug Free<\/a><\/strong> is a\u00a0likely cap casualty\u00a0however, which frees up approximately five million. Jason Witten<\/a><\/strong> also has an extremely large cap figure of 12 million. It is likely to be either reduced or re-structured as well.<\/p>\n

Butler isn\u2019t believed to ultimately be a rising star, but he is a perfect fit in the offense. He can fill the X wide receiver role or move into the slot position if needed. His imposing size, 6\u20193 213 pounds, makes him a big target as well. \u00a0The Cowboys would be wise to offer Butler an extension now. It makes the most sense to just offer him a two year extension, for somewhere around five million. This would ensure that the team has a receiver who is capable of replacing Bryant.<\/p>\n

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