Arizona Cardinals: Brice Butler signing has potential

The Arizona Cardinals signed deep-threat wide receiver Brice Butler to a two-year deal. Despite his odd offseason, the move has great potential.

The Arizona Cardinals continue to make moves to try and replace holes in their roster. They already inked Sam Bradford and Mike Glennon to an empty quarterback room and now they replaced a deep-threat receiver who left in free agency.

John Brown left for the Baltimore Ravens, and while he never met his full potential, the team would have surely missed the home run possibility he brought to the table had they not added someone like Brice Butler who they just signed to a two-year deal.

Butler was originally a seventh-round pick of the Oakland Raiders out of San Diego State, but was traded in 2015 to the Dallas Cowboys. He showed a lot of speed and had a few games where he appeared ready to break out. Butler finished 2017 averaging 21.1 yards per catch with three touchdowns, but had just 15 receptions all season.

After the year was over, Butler made waves by saying he wouldn’t come back to Dallas unless there were changes — meaning he would be a starter. He also said he could produce more than Dez Bryant, if given the same opportunities.

Arizona may give him those opportunities as they have seen first-hand what he can do to change a game. In a Week 3, Monday Night Football contest when Dallas played Arizona, Butler had just two receptions but finished with 90-yards and a fourth-quarter touchdown.

It’s still unclear why he didn’t receive more chances in Dallas, especially considering how much they struggled to move the ball at times in 2017. In Arizona however, he has a chance to start with no proven receivers outside of Larry Fitzgerald on the roster.

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If so, he has a chance to put up some productive games. Sure, he may not be better than Dez Bryant in his prime — but the signing has great potential to open up the Cards offense.