Report: Former Titans Cornerback Considers Retirement
The last game Malcolm Butler played for the Tennessee Titans could turn out to be his last game – period.
The veteran cornerback is weighing whether or not to retire after he left his current team, the Arizona Cardinals, according to an NFL.com report Monday. Butler reportedly is dealing with a personal situation that has led him to consider ending his professional football career.
Butler, 31, has played seven seasons in the NFL, the last three with the Titans. The 2020 season was one of his best as he set a career-high with 100 tackles, tied his personal best with four interceptions (tied for the team lead) and played in all 16 games for the fifth time in six years. He set a career-high for tackles in a game with 11 against Jacksonville in Week 2 had the second multi-interception game of his career with two against the Buffalo Bills.
Before Tennessee, he played four seasons with the New England Patriots and was a two-time Pro Bowler and a member of two Super Bowl champion teams.
The Titans cut him in March in one of several moves designed to create space under the salary cap and to restructure the secondary.
A day after his release, Butler posted a message that said, in part, that he believed he had “a lot of gas left in the tank” and he wanted to help “another team make it to the Super Bowl.” Weeks later, he signed a one-year, $3.25 million (fully guaranteed) contract with the Cardinals, a team that missed out on last season’s playoffs by virtue of a tiebreaker.
Tennessee and Arizona are scheduled to meet in Week 1, Sept. 12 at Nissan Stadium. It remains to be seen now whether Butler will be there for that one – or any other game.