Report: Titans to sign CB Malcolm Butler to 5-year, $61 million contract

The one splash move many Detroit Lions fans were hoping the team would still make was for cornerback Malcolm Butler. Many hoped the reunion with Matt Patricia would lead to the Lions having one of the best cornerback duos in the league.

Unfortunately, ESPN’s Adam Schefter put an end to those dreams on Tuesday night. According to Schefter, Butler has agreed to terms to join the Tennessee Titans.

The Titans were a bit of an underdog in the Butler sweepstakes,but apparently they won over the veteran cornerback with a monster deal. Ian Rapoport has the details:

To get a sense of how much that is, Butler will be earning just over $12 million a year, while Lions All Pro cornerback Darius Slay signed a four-year, $48 million extension, but with only $23.1 million guaranteed.

The Lions have now seemingly struck out on two of the biggest cornerback free agents on the market: Butler and Richard Sherman. Detroit doesn’t have many other options on the table as some of the other best cornerbacks have already agreed to terms with other teams. Bashaud Breeland, Aaron Colvin and Nickell Robey-Coleman are all off the market. One big name still out there is 31-year-old Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie.

The Lions are also pursuing DeShawn Shead, who could help serve the Lions as depth. We’ll see if Detroit tries to close the deal or goes after a bigger name cornerback still on the market.

While we wait for the Lions to make a move in the secondary, it appears the Jacksonville Jaguars are making a move on one of Detroit’s players: