Vernon Butler, the 3-4, and depth on the DL

[Navy_football]

If he doesn't make you better, then he's making you worse. Addition by subtraction. 

If the team can improve by letting him go and adding another player, then they should. Period. 

From what I saw in terms of effort and ability, I'm thinking it wouldn't be that difficult to find an improvement - for very little. Honestly, he looks like he doesn't even belong in the league. And I hate to see guys lose their jobs/positions. But lack of effort is unacceptable when you're getting paid millions of dollars a year for playing a game. That kind of stuff is infectious and can spoil a team from the core. Particularly if that guy is taking game reps from someone else that busts his tail every day in practice. 

[Navy_football]

2 minutes ago, Toomers said:

   After watching the game, I change my stance. That horrible of effort is contagious. Eat the money and get him out of here now. I really didn’t understand how bad his play was the other night. That’s a player that’s content. And basically useless. 

  

Beat me to it. I approve this message. 

[45catfan]

What sucks is if we keep Butler on the final 53 roster that means either Cox Jr. or Obada will likely get cut.  Even though both of those guys went undrafted, they at least make the most of their reps on the field.

[Davidson Deac II]

On 8/10/2019 at 5:41 PM, Pimpdaddy said:

a first rounder that hasn't even come close to expectations ..time to cut bait...

Him being a first rounder is irrelevant regarding whether we keep him on the team.  The main question to be answered is, is he is better or worse than the guy who might replace him on the roster?  And the cap hit/cost of replacing him.  

[Icege]

On 8/10/2019 at 11:06 AM, RoaringRiot said:

Has Butler really been as bad as everyone thinks? I’m not totally sure. He’s the guy the fans are piling up on now so I think more people are going with that narrative because someone else said it. He was inconsistent on Thursday but he had some really nice push on a few plays. 

He has never been as bad as folks act, he just hasn't produced to expectations.

I can't really defend him anymore, but he does his job. Folks just pay attention to when he loses on a play and demand that he show up on stats (while turning around and then saying DT play isn't properly evaluated by stats... D: )

[Navy_football]

I watched the game again and focused on Butler and the d-line only. Butler's effort wasn't as bad as I thought. He was just inconsistent. But to be fair, he was in the game a lot more than he usually is. Likely attributed to conditioning of a 300 lbs man, rather than lack of effort. Saw him chasing plays downfield more than once. 

[raleigh-panther]

5 hours ago, stbugs said:

No team would ever pick up a 5th year option on a backup. The option was $7-8M and there’s no way we would pay that even if we want to keep him as a backup. Declining the 5th year option has zero to do with him being on the roster this year or after this year.

Also, I still laugh at the bashing of Butler without people realizing how shitty that draft was after the early part of the 1st. The 5th year options from picks 11-32 are way cheaper than 1-10 yet only 3 of the final 13 1st rounders got their 5th year option. Of the 3, one is a CB with 1 career INT, one is a WR with 1500 career yards (Funchess had more yards and TDs in 3 years) and the last is a DT who is worth the 5th year option. Only one of the last 13 1st rounders was actually a “good” pick. Even 3 of the 10-15 guys were declined. There were a handful of solid players after the 1st, but this draft was pretty trash overall.

I’m bashing Butler because after his years on the team he is still insignificant 

that, in and of itself, is bad enough. Worse still, he doesn’t care 

the Panthers can do better 

[DaveThePanther2008]

Bulter is not an asset he's a liability.  If he can't fill a position and give us some confidence  that he will perform it is time to.let him go.

Keeping him for the sake of depth IMO make no sense.  Bring in a vet that is on the downside of his career but could be a solid rotational guy. There will be one on final cut days. If not I would rather have a  hungry player that was destined for the practice squad. 

Cut our losses and move on. 

[ImfromClayton]

20 hours ago, 45catfan said:

What sucks is if we keep Butler on the final 53 roster that means either Cox Jr. or Obada will likely get cut.  Even though both of those guys went undrafted, they at least make the most of their reps on the field.

I agree with this totally and I think this is exactly what’s about to happen. I love efe, but in a numbers game, I think he’s in trouble. I don’t see us going into week 1 with 5 DTs. Bryan Cox is already smaller than most DTs