Few free agent additions this offseason were bigger than the Raiders landing Christian Wilkins. The big interior defensive lineman was considered the top free agent at his position and one of the top free agents at any position. With that news dominating the headlines, the other moves the Raiders made on the defensive line got little attention. But one in particular should be noted.
Adam Butler hitting free agency didn’t have teams falling over themselves to get him. But it was important to the Raiders. During minicamp this past week, I asked Raiders defensive line coach Rob Leonard what Butler’s return meant to the defensive line room.
“Everything,” Leonard replied. “Everything. In terms of creating a standard, him and 98 [Maxx Crosby]. This is one of the groups that makes this special is building a team. Not just a group of talent. So, their traits, their personalities all play off each other. They balance each other really well which creates infectious energy and is a lot of fun.”
There was a clear chemistry between Butler and Crosby last season. It really started to show up on the field in the final few games, but according to Crosby that chemistry began the moment Butler joined the team last offseason.
“I feel like we had that connection right away,” Crosby said of Butler. “It started in the offseason. He got here last April I believe and from that day on we’ve been locked in. From week one to 18 it’s improved and improved, but usually it takes a lot more time. And a guy like him, he’s a thinker. When you’re out on the field with him, he’s calling out whether we’re sliding and calling out protections. And when you have a guy like that on the field, he’s nothing but an asset. And he plays hard and he’s a very underrated rusher. He can win his one-on-ones as well. I love Adam. Me and Adam have had a great connection, he’s a Texas guy as well, he went to Duncanville, so our teams played each other in High School. He’s a little older than me, but I’ve known about him for a long time. So, when he got here it was awesome, it’s been special ever since.”
Butler may have flown under the radar for the Raiders last season, but he didn’t come out of nowhere. The former undrafted free agent out Vanderbilt appeared in 104 games over six NFL seasons, including playoffs. His first four seasons were with the Patriots where saw around 45% of the snaps and put up 17 sacks, 23 tackles for loss, and 26 QB hits.
Those are very good numbers for a rotational interior defensive lineman. So, it should be no surprise he was a key part of the Raiders defensive line rotation last season. And while it was Bilal Nichols who got the start each week, Butler would come in and outplayed the starter at every turn.
| Stat | Bilal Nichols | Adam Butler |
| Starts | 17 | 0 |
| Snaps | 615 | 527 |
| Tackles | 48 | 28 |
| Sacks | 1.5 | 5 |
| QB hits | 2 | 9 |
| TFL | 4 | 8 |
So, you can see why the Raiders were perfectly fine letting Nichols walk while making Butler a priority to return.
Along with Wilkins, John Jenkins, and second year tackle Byron Young in the mix, the Raiders have a very good looking interior rotation.
