Dion and Malcolm Go to Tennessee

As expected Dion Lewis and Malcolm Butler signed big free agency deals outside of New England, and with both going to Tennessee and joining Mike Vrabel‘s team, the Titans will have a distinct “land of misfit former Patriot toys” feel.

These were two of my favorite players of the last few seasons, but for whatever reason, the Patriots just could not figure out how to best use Lewis’ dynamic ability, even as he put up a career year in 2017. Meanwhile, no one had a more rapid ascent and descent than Butler, whose career was bookended by two of the most dramatic Super Bowl stories ever.

I do always love it when former Patriots all get together on another team. It gives me another side team to keep a close eye on. To be honest, Vrabel has always been on my wishlist for eventual Belichick replacements. Now the Titans will have Butler and Logan Ryan starting at cornerback and will see if they can find a way to just make Lewis a more central focus of their ground game than he was here.

Lewis was a monster when he was the featured back down the stretch. Yes, I held my breath every time he carried the ball because of his injury history, and that’s something that has to be considered, but the more touches the guy got the more efficient the offense was. I thought the 2017 Patriots offense was its best when Lewis was the guy.

The Patriots just seem more enamored of the James White passing offense and making Lewis a rotational sidepiece with Rex Burkhead. In the Super Bowl, Lewis was once again mostly abandoned. Yes, the Pats put up 500 yards of offense, but still lost the time of possession battle by eight minutes. That’s where I think Lewis might’ve helped, especially in the first half.

And don’t get me started on Butler and the Super Bowl. I don’t know how they didn’t just put him in for the second half. The point had been made. The defense was getting shredded. It was impossible for him to make things worse because it was the worst defensive performance of the season. I don’t think I’ll ever understand that one. All it would’ve taken was for Butler to make the tackle that Bademosi didn’t and the Pats likely would’ve won the game. Ugh!

I’ll be fascinated to see how each does with their new team. Lewis and Derrick Henry is a strong combination and if both stay healthy the Patriots run defense could truly be tested by both when the teams meet next season. We know Butler will play with the great effort he’s known for, but his self-admitted inconsistent 2017 needs to be bounced back from. The Super Bowl benching was extreme, but 2017 was a disappointing one for Butler long before that. Perhaps the contract issues that seemed to stem from last offseason when the Pats gave Stephon Gilmore a monster deal when many of us, perhaps including Malcolm, thought that should’ve been Butler’s payday.

Let’s just bury all the bad feelings and frustrations I have for both of them. They’re on to the Titans and not the Pats’ concern anymore. It will be hard to shake the disappointment over what could’ve been here in New England. That’s somewhat outside the norm. Usually players walk and you know the Pats got everything they could out of them. Not really in these two cases and now they’ll both be playing together for another team.

Now we wait for the Nate Solder news and all the fallout that will come with that either way.