Arizona Cardinals release CB Malcolm Butler off of retired list

The Arizona Cardinals released cornerback Malcolm Butler from the reserve/retired list on Thursday.

If he decides to unretire, Butler, who signed a one-year deal with Arizona last March, is now free to sign with any team. That’s apparently a real possibility following his decision to hang it up last offseason.

NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported Thursday that he had heard the cornerback was considering a return. NFL Network’s Mike Girardi followed up Rapoport’s tweet saying Butler “has been working out diligently” and that he would expect a return.

The cornerback had been one of general manager Steve Keim’s top acquisitions last offseason and was expected to be a major part of the team’s secondary with Patrick Peterson leaving the Cardinals for the Minnesota Vikings.

But Butler was surprisingly placed on the retired list on the final day of training camp cuts just before the 2021 regular season kicked off. The news of the retirement came soon after it was reported that the cornerback was dealing with a personal situation.

Butler did not attend practice all week leading up his retirement and scrubbed his social media of Cardinals content he had posted.

When asked if there was a chance Butler could return to action by reporters in September, defensive coordinator Vance Joseph didn’t completely shut the door on Butler, saying “we’ll see.”

“No, he was playing fine, he was improving every day and he was gonna be a big part of what we did this year,” Joseph said.

“Last week we talked a little bit, he’s taking care of some personal stuff and that’s important,” Joseph added. “Obviously, football is a big part of his life but his life’s more important than football.”

Entering the offseason, the Cardinals have Byron Murphy (2022) and Marco Wilson (2024) under contract through at least next year. The team also signed Jace Whittaker and Breon Borders to future deals.

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