Boston Herald reports Pats want to extend Butler

this just tells me he's headed to the saints

Or somewhere else. Haha. Seriously though, it's no secret they wanted to extend him, couldn't, signed someone else, and now are trying to play nice in case they trade him. You can't tell other teams...yeah we can't resign him, give us a first round pick. Not going to happen.

All I've heard over the last few days is that this guy may be on the move before Wednesday. I like him, wish they had given him a decent contract, but now they are stuck with Gilmore. And I don't necessarily know if that's a total loss yet, he did play well against Tampa so we'll see.

But trading him now would seriously hurt, how can they do that? Rowe is out, Gilmore is woozy in the head (even before the concussion), Hightower is gone, they are already thin up front, Brown is out with an ankle. Pretty bare.

Gilmore was described to me by a hard core Bills fan as taking off plays during each game. Good player but loses focus and gets toasted 1 or 2 every game...sure enough I have seen this.
Give me Butler over Gilmore any day.

I can't see it either, but this isn't the type of team or coach that likes having good players leave for nothing in return. So let's say they trade him for a corner and a draft pick? Now obviously the corner won't/can't be at Butler's level, but he could be "serviceable". Belichick made Troy Brown and Edelman "serviceable" corners for a few games. Got to think he'd make a roll playing corner good enough if Rowe came back, Gilmore took his head out of his ass and the kid they got from Detroit kept it up. Plus they are paying a corner on the practice squad as if he's on the roster...forget his name but they must be reasonably high on him. And let's say they traded him for a starter in the front seven instead, how would that be?

Yeah I don't think it'll happen but stranger things have certainly been done by Belichick.

I think the CB on the PS you mention is named Ryan Lewis.

Lets just say Butler does get traded for a front 7 player...that is an even swap roster wise, but then the Pats would have to promote Lewis to the active roster to fill the secondary spot. So, someone else would have to go. Unless the traded for front 7 player takes Hightower's spot, then it would even out. I haven't seen Hightower placed on IR yet..

Lewis is an interesting prospect. 6'0", 200lbs, runs a 4.37 forty, 6.82 3-cone, 10'8" broad jump. He's incredibly fast and explosive but lacks the experience obviously. Maybe they think the kid is ready to serve as that 5th CB and play sparingly. That leaves Gilmore, Rowe, Jones and Bademosi ahead of him. Is that enough to get the job done? Maybe if you also consider who plays at safety and how they use McCourty. It could work.

Who would that front 7 player be that the Pats would trade for?

Pats are paying him a Rookie salary too each week, (that's a real big increase), not even PS money or a bump in it. They must really like him.

The Pats have been players during the trade deadline for the past 5 years. All players they have dealt for over the past 5 years have all been defensive players.

I'd be surprised if an offensive player/skill player would be added..like Ebron for example.

With the recent injuries to Brown, Hightower and with Guy banged up and Valentine unlikely to return, they may be targeting a DT via trade. Think Hicks. Maybe wishful thinking. They worked one out the other day as well.

I could see a DT added to this roster. Would that include a Butler trade for a DT, or simply a pick for a DT? We will see.

There's no news here. The Patriots love Malcolm, and have always wanted to extend him. But, at their price, and not the asking price of Butler's agent.

With Malcolm, it was never anything personal. It was strictly business. Now that Malcolm is playing again up to form, I'd like to see a deal get done. But, at a reasonable price.

Jimmy don't deserve the tag.

Oh please! How did Rodney Harrison cost the Patriots a SB? Are you referring to that lucky catch by Tyree? The horrific play of the OL was the main reason for that loss.

I dunno.  I think he's been a mixed bag.  He isn't fully back to form yet.  He's on his way but not there yet.