Dolphins to sign former Patriots DT Adam Butler to two-year deal

Adam Butler will reunite with Brian Flores. The former Patriots defensive tackle has agreed to a two-year deal with the Dolphins (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport). The contract could be worth up to $9.5M with bonuses.

Last year, the Patriots kept Butler from the open market (and, likely, the waiting arms of Flores) with a second-round tender. This time around, the Patriots allowed Butler to walk amidst their own free-agency spending spree.

The former Vanderbilt standout has spent his entire four-year career with New England, and he won a Super Bowl championship during his second year in the NFL. He’s missed just one regular-season game as a pro and he’s made an impact, despite making just six combined starts across the last two seasons. In 2019, he set a new career high with six sacks. Last year, he registered four sacks with a new watermark of 34 total stops.

Butler will be joined in the Miami front seven by fellow newcomer Benardrick McKinney. The Dolphins acquired the inside linebacker earlier this week by shipping OLB Shaq Lawson to the Texans.