Malcolm Butler Rumors: Texans Interested in Patriots CB in Free Agency

The Houston Texans are reportedly interested in bolstering their secondary through the addition of cornerback Malcolm Butler.

On Monday, Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle reported Houston is "among several NFL teams displaying interest" in the New England Patriots cornerback. Butler has spent his entire NFL career to this point with New England but is set to be an unrestricted free agent this offseason, per Spotrac. 

One of those "several" teams is reportedly the New Orleans Saints, per Dianna Russini of ESPN.com.

Josh Katzenstein of the Times-Picayune called New Orleans' interest in Butler "nothing new as the Saints hosted him on a visit last March while he was a restricted free agent."

From Houston's perspective, adding Butler would help address a secondary that struggled in 2017 on the way to a 4-12 record. The Texans were 24th in the league in passing yards allowed per game last season.

Butler was a 2015 Pro Bowler and won two Super Bowls with the Patriots, most notably Super Bowl XLIX when he intercepted Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson at the goal line to clinch New England's win.

However, he played zero snaps for the Patriots in their most recent Super Bowl loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. Ian Rapoport of NFL.com called it "a complicated matter" and "a perfect storm of issues," while listing "sickness, a rough week of practice and a minor rule violation believed to be related to curfew" as reasons why Butler was benched in the loss.

Still, he is only 28 years old and played all 16 games in each of the last three seasons while tallying eight interceptions during that span.