Receiver Brice Butler should get starting role opportunity he craves in Arizona

Wide receiver Brice Butler is gone from Dallas Cowboys as expected, signing a two-year contract with the Arizona Cardinals.

Butler was with the Cowboys for three years, recording 15 receptions for a career-high 317 yards and three touchdowns in 2017, leading the NFL (among players with at least 15 catches) with his 21.1-yards-per-catch average.

He said after the season he would not return to the Cowboys if didn’t get a chance for a starting role.

He further doubled down on his comments when he said on Skip Bayless’s Undisputed earlier this off-season that he would have been more productive than Dez Bryant if given the same opportunities.

There was little chance the Cowboys were going to bring him back in the same locker room with Bryant, although the latter’s future in Dallas remains unsettled.

Butler didn’t find the robust free-agent market he had hoped. And he even acknowledged on his Twitter profile that he signed a minimum, prove-it deal with the Cardinals.

Butler will get the opportunity to play and shine with the Cardinals, who are looking for a starter to play opposite Larry Fitzgerald. He will get to compete with the speedy J.J. Nelson, who at 5-foot-10 and 160 pounds, is more of a slot option than the 6-foot-5 Butler.

This story was originally published April 3, 2018 at 3:33 PM with the headline "Receiver Brice Butler should get starting role opportunity he craves in Arizona."