Hakeem Butler Isn't Worried About Labels Any Longer
PHILADELPHIA -Early October isn't talent-acquisition season in the NFL so if you need something on your roster, sometimes you have to be creative in finding it.
Hakeem Butler might end up being a blip on the radar for the Eagles but he is an intriguing roll of the dice for an offense in desperate need of playmakers for Carson Wentz in the wake of injuries to Dallas Goedert and Jalen Reagor.
A king-sized receiver in college at Iowa State, the Eagles brought in Butler, 24, as an undersized 6-foot-4, 229-pound "tight end," but the designation is just that.
It's not like Philadelphia is going to tell Butler to go be Goedert and block defensive ends in-line. He's here to be thrown into the mix as a slot receiver so if you want that label to be flex tight end vs. oversized WR in the mold of a Devin Funchess, that's really just a game of semantics.
For Butler, the new role had been thrown at him during the pre-draft process in 2019 when he was ultimately chosen by the Arizona Cardinals in the fourth round of the draft.
"Pre-draft process, yeah, teams were asking me to be a tight end," said Butler on Friday. "I kind of didn't want to do it back then."
Butler gave a refreshing answer as to why.
"Just ego and whatnot," he said while discussing why he fought a potential move. "You know just belief in myself and I still have that, hundred percent, but I kind of shut it (the talk) down after I ran a 4.4 and everybody thought I was gonna run at 4.6, 4.7 but, you know, we hushed all that noise."
That noise returned after a rookie season derailed by a broken hand with the Cardinals and now Butler has matured to the point he's no longer concerned with labels.
He took the high road when discussing what went wrong with the Cards.
"When when it comes to Arizona, I mean, that's the past, and I'm very thankful for them drafting me and calling my name and giving me this chance to even, you know chase my dream and get into the NFL," Butler said. "So, you know they got me here. It didn't work out, you know. whatever happened, but I mean I'm thankful for all the guys there. I still got love for Arizona and coach Kliff (Kingsbury) and everybody there and I wish nothing but the best.
"But I mean I'm an Eagle now and that's kind of what I'm focused on."
And Butler listened eagerly when the Eagles unveiled their plan.
"My agent kind of called me and let me know that the Eagles are interested in me at tight end," he said. "I mean from the moment he called me, I was just excited to get out there and be able to play.
"I mean I'm in my second year in the league and I haven't played a game yet so more than anything I'm just ready to get on the field and Mr. Roseman, Howie called me and he told me what they have planned for me and you know where they envision me and so I mean, it didn't take much convincing."
Butler brought up an interesting comp in Las Vegas Star Darren Waller, who entered the league as an oversized WR from Georgia Tech with Baltimore and actually killed the Eagles with his size in a joint practice during the Chip Kelly era.
"There's a lot of people that have been productive in the in the hybrid position," Butler said, "I feel that I can be productive either/or but, you know, on the inside now, I mean I'm definitely ready to, to make that move and I've seen guys like Darren Waller and you know a bunch of guys that just make that transition and do work on the inside on the safeties and linebackers."
Most of all Butler is just looking for the one opportunity to seize.
"I'm ready to play like I need my catch, I need my first catch. I need my first touchdown," he said. "I know I can play in this league. And so, opportunity, wherever it may present itself, outside, inside, hand in the dirt, I mean I'll take advantage of whatever it comes, how many times it comes."
John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's EagleMaven and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John every Monday and Friday on SIRIUSXM and every Monday and Thursday with Eytan Shander on SportsMap Radio. He’s also the host of Extending the Play on AM1490 in South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen
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