New England Patriots (first stint) 2014 season Butler received an invitation to attend the
New England Patriots' rookie minicamp, and after impressing coaches with his performance, Butler was signed to a three-year, $1.53 million contract on May 19, 2014. During training camp, he competed for a roster spot against
Dax Swanson,
Justin Green, and
Jemea Thomas. Butler had an impressive preseason and earned a roster spot as the sixth cornerback on the Patriots’ depth chart. Head coach
Bill Belichick named Butler the sixth cornerback, behind
Darrelle Revis,
Alfonzo Dennard,
Logan Ryan,
Kyle Arrington, and
Brandon Browner. Butler made his NFL debut in the season opener against the
Miami Dolphins and made two solo tackles during the 33–20 road loss. He was inactive for three games as a healthy scratch (Weeks 5–7) after Alfonzo Dennard returned from injury. During Week 9 against the
Denver Broncos, Butler collected a season-high four solo tackles and deflected a pass in the 43–21 victory. He was inactive for another two games (Weeks 12–13) as a healthy scratch. During Week 15, Butler earned his first NFL start and recorded two combined tackles in a 41–13 victory over the Dolphins. In the regular-season finale against the
Buffalo Bills, Butler collected a season-high five combined tackles during the 17–9 loss. Butler finished his rookie season in 2014 with 15 combined tackles (14 solo) and three pass deflections in 11 games and one start. The Patriots finished atop the
AFC East with a 12–4 record and received a first-round bye. On January 10, 2015, Butler appeared in his first NFL playoff game as the Patriots defeated the
Baltimore Ravens 35–31 during the AFC
Divisional Round. The following week, he made one tackle as the Patriots defeated the
Indianapolis Colts 45–7 in the
AFC Championship Game.
Super Bowl XLIX On February 1, 2015, Butler and the Patriots appeared in
Super Bowl XLIX against the defending champion
Seattle Seahawks. Butler began the game as the fifth cornerback on the Patriots’ depth chart. Butler entered the game in the third quarter at
nickelback after
Kyle Arrington struggled to cover
Chris Matthews. After recognizing that Kearse had made the catch and was not down by contact, Butler pushed Kearse out of bounds at the five-yard line. He gave credit to Patriots defensive coordinator
Matt Patricia for preparing players well for the game. The interception was the first of Butler's NFL career. It was the only interception of a pass attempt from the one-yard line during the
2014 NFL season, out of 109 such attempts. New England Patriots quarterback
Tom Brady, who received a 2015
Chevrolet Colorado as part of his
Super Bowl XLIX MVP Award, said that he planned to give the truck to Butler. At the request of Brady, Chevrolet awarded the truck directly to Butler.
2015 season Following the departures of
Darrelle Revis,
Brandon Browner, and
Kyle Arrington, Butler was promoted to a starting cornerback position at the start of the 2015 season. During Week 2 against the
Buffalo Bills, Butler recorded his first regular-season interception and returned it to the Bills 30-yard line. On November 15, Butler was matched up against
New York Giants'
Odell Beckham Jr., who made four catches for 104 yards and a touchdown on twelve targets. Butler made a strip of Beckham in the end zone when it looked like Beckham had secured possession of the football for a touchdown. The touchdown, which would have given the Giants the lead with 1:45 to play, was nullified by the officials and helped the Patriots hold the Giants to a field goal, after which
Stephen Gostkowski kicked a 54-yard field goal for the Patriots to win with one second remaining. In the next game, Butler held
Buffalo Bills wide receiver
Sammy Watkins to 39 yards on three catches. Overall, Butler led all Patriots in total snaps, and was the only Patriot defensive player to play more than 90 percent of defensive snaps in 2015. As a result of his high snap count and low salary, Butler received a performance-based pay bonus of $319,282.65, the highest of any Patriot in 2015 and the fifth-highest in the league. On December 22, 2015, Butler was named to the
2016 Pro Bowl.
2016 season In the season opener against the
Arizona Cardinals on September 11, Butler broke up a potential touchdown pass to
Michael Floyd in the fourth quarter. During Week 7 against the
Pittsburgh Steelers, he notched his first interception of the season, picking off a pass from backup quarterback
Landry Jones intended for wide receiver
Antonio Brown. During Week 11 against the
San Francisco 49ers, Butler recorded his first NFL sack on
Colin Kaepernick. Two weeks later against the
Los Angeles Rams, Butler intercepted rookie quarterback
Jared Goff for his second interception of the season. Against the
New York Jets in Week 16 on
Christmas Eve, Butler had the first multi-interception game of his career after picking off both
Bryce Petty and
Ryan Fitzpatrick and also recovering a fumble. Butler was named second-team
All-Pro by
Pro Football Focus and the
Associated Press. On February 5, 2017, Butler won his second Super Bowl championship as the Patriots defeated the
Atlanta Falcons in overtime by a score of 34–28 in
Super Bowl LI. In the game, Butler had two total tackles. Butler was ranked 99th by his fellow players on the
NFL Top 100 Players of 2017.
2017 season Set to be a restricted free agent, the Patriots gave Butler a first-round tender worth $3.91 million on March 7, 2017. On April 18, Butler officially signed his tender with the Patriots. After the Patriots signed former Bills' cornerback
Stephon Gilmore to a five-year $65 million contract, Butler was demoted to the No. 2 starting cornerback after sitting atop the depth chart the previous two seasons. He started 15 games, recording 60 tackles, 12 passes deflected, two interceptions, and three forced fumbles. On January 21, 2018, the Patriots won the
AFC Championship to advance to the Super Bowl for the third time in Butler's career. Butler and the Patriots lost
Super Bowl LII to the
Philadelphia Eagles 41–33. Butler did not play any defensive snaps in the game, only coming in for a single play on
special teams. After the game, Patriots head coach
Bill Belichick said his lack of playing time was a "coach's decision," not due to disciplinary issues. When asked about the benching, Butler stated "I don't know what it was. I guess I wasn't playing good or they didn't feel comfortable. I don't know. But I could have changed that game." By the next morning, reports claimed that Belichick acknowledged a "much longer discussion" could occur regarding Butler's absence on defense from the game. Patriots
beat writer Kevin Duffy revealed that Butler was demoted in practice during the Wild Card round of the playoffs, during which the Patriots had a bye week. Later in the week, Butler released a statement regarding his benching for the game. It was also revealed that owner
Robert Kraft was not informed ahead of time regarding Butler being benched.
Tennessee Titans 2018 season On March 15, 2018, Butler signed a five-year, $61 million contract with the
Tennessee Titans with $30 million guaranteed, reuniting him with former Patriots teammate
Logan Ryan. During the season-opening 27–20 road loss to the
Miami Dolphins, Butler recorded his first interception of the season by picking off
Ryan Tannehill in the third quarter in the end zone and returning the interception 34 yards. During a Week 4 26–23 overtime victory against the
Philadelphia Eagles, Butler had his first sack of the season against
Carson Wentz. Overall, Butler struggled mightily in the first half of the season, but he got better as the season progressed. During Week 13 against the
New York Jets, Butler intercepted
Josh McCown in the final seconds, thus sealing a 26–22 victory for the Titans. Three weeks later against the
Washington Redskins, Butler scored his first NFL touchdown after he intercepted
Josh Johnson and returned it 56 yards on the final play of the 25–16 victory. Butler finished his first season with the Titans with a career-high 69 tackles, 12 pass deflections, three interceptions, a sack, and a touchdown in 16 games and 11 starts.
2019 season During the season-opener against the
Cleveland Browns, Butler intercepted
Baker Mayfield and returned it for a 38-yard touchdown in the 43–13 road victory. During Week 8 against the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Butler recorded his second interception of the season by picking off
Jameis Winston in the 27–23 victory. In the next game against the
Carolina Panthers, he left the eventual 30–20 road loss in the second quarter with a wrist injury. Butler was placed on injured reserve on November 5, 2019. Without Butler, the Titans finished 9–7 for the fourth consecutive year and lost to the
Kansas City Chiefs in the
AFC Championship Game.
2020 season In Week 5 against the
Buffalo Bills, Butler recorded two interceptions off of passes thrown by
Josh Allen during the 42–16 win. Butler got his third interception of the season by picking off
Mike Glennon in a 31–10 Week 14 victory over the
Jacksonville Jaguars. In Week 16 against the
Green Bay Packers, Butler recorded his fourth interception of the season off a pass thrown by
Aaron Rodgers during the 14–40 loss. He finished the 2020 season with 100 total tackles (86 solo), four interceptions, and 14 passes defended in 16 games and starts. In the
Wild Card Round of the playoffs against the
Baltimore Ravens, Butler intercepted a pass thrown by
Lamar Jackson during the 20–13 loss. On March 10, 2021, the Titans released Butler, shoring up $10 million in
cap space.
Arizona Cardinals On March 30, 2021, Butler signed a one-year contract with the
Arizona Cardinals. On August 31, he decided to retire for personal reasons, and the Cardinals placed Butler on the reserve/retired list that same day. On February 18, 2022, the Cardinals formally released Butler.
New England Patriots (second stint) Butler signed a two-year contract to return to the Patriots on March 24, 2022, coming out of retirement. He was placed on injured reserve on August 16 and was released nine days later.
Retirement Butler announced his retirement from professional football on March 9, 2024. == Legal issues ==