New England Patriots: Josh Boyner believes Malcolm Butler is unique

Training camp is here for the New England Patriots, and that means it’s time to get back to work. Recently, Malcolm Butler was praised as one of the hardest workers on the team.

After winning their fifth Super Bowl, the New England Patriots had a very busy offseason. With a lot of free agents, the Patriots could have been a much different looking team in 2017.

While there are new faces, the Patriots were able to retain most of their core for next season. With a lot of offseason moves, there might not have been a player that was talked about more than Malcolm Butler.

Since his heroic interception against the Seattle Seahawks in the Super Bowl, Butler has become a very good cornerback for the Patriots. Cornerbacks coach Josh Boyer has been around some great cornerbacks in New England, but he praised Butler as being one of the hardest working, and also one of the most competitive.

"“I would say that’s unique,” Boyer said to Mike Girardi of CSNNE.com. “It’s one of those things that whether something happens right, wrong or indifferent on that play, you know he’s always gonna be competitive. I think that’s an attribute to just his personal makeup . . . I think all of our guys are competitive but Malcolm is never going to give up the fight no matter what stands in his way or what obstacles he has. He’s always going to be competitive.”"

Considering that Boyer has coached cornerbacks like Aqib Talib and Darrelle Revis, this is certainly some high praise for Butler. Unfortunately for Butler, that high praise didn’t result in him landing a big contract this offseason.

Butler was a restricted free agent this offseason, which certainly made things tricky for both him and the Patriots.  With a first round tender being placed on him, a team would have had to not only sign Butler but then would have to give the Patriots a first round pick as compensation.

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This resulted in Butler’s market being very limited. While there were some discussions of a trade between the New Orleans Saints and the Patriots, a deal ended up not getting done. Butler will once again be playing for a contract this season, and that could once again benefit the Patriots. After a very strong 2016 season, expect to see a highly motivated Malcolm Butler once again for the Patriots in 2017.