Cornerback Malcolm Butler is getting another shot at the NFL with the Atlanta Falcons. The defensive back who made the decisive play of the New England Patriots vs. Seattle Seahawks Super Bowl hasn’t played an NFL game since 2020 but is trying out for the Falcons roster ahead of Week 1 of the 2023 season.
“Former Pro Bowl CB Malcolm Butler is flying to Atlanta this afternoon & will try out for Falcons tomorrow, source confirms,” the NFL Network’s Cameron Wolfe wrote on Twitter. “Butler hasn’t played a reg season game since 2020 season but has worked out/signed contracts with teams over last 2 years & training for chance like this.”
Butler was an undrafted rookie out of West Alabama in 2014 when he appeared in 11 games for the Patriots, playing just 25% of the team’s defensive snaps. Despite his low-level role on that team, he was on the field for the most important snap of the season, which was the one in the Super Bowl when Seahawks coach Pete Carroll decided to call a pass instead of handing the ball to Marshawn Lynch on the goal line.
That’s when Butler had his magical moment and made an interception that won a Super Bowl. The next season, Butler started all 16 games and became a Pro Bowl CB. He played two more seasons after that in New England before Bill Belichick infamously benched him in the team' Super Bowl loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.
In 2018, Butler signed with the Tennessee Titans and played in Nashville for three seasons. Since last appearing in an NFL game in 2020, Butler has signed with the Arizona Cardinals and re-signed with the Patriots but didn’t make it to the field.
The Malcolm Butler Falcons tryout comes as the team is crafting its final 53-man roster for Week 1 of the upcoming season. Atlanta currently has seven corners on the roster. In addition to starters A.J. Terrell, Jeff Okudah, and Dee Alford, there is also Tre Flowers, Mike Hughes, Cornell Armstrong, and Darren Hall.