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Michael Irvin rips Cowboys free-agent receiver

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If free agent receiver Brice Butler is to return to the Dallas Cowboys next season, he will have to repair some bridges he burned on his way out of town.

Butler appeared on FS1 last week, where he dished on his role from this season and what he’ll need next season to return to Dallas.


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“With Dallas, the situation has to be right for me to go back,” Butler said. “I have to be a starter. If I’m not starting I’m not going back.”

Butler has spent three years in Dallas but has started just five games, and none this past season. He ranked eighth on the team with 15 receptions this season but finished fourth in receiving yards.

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The player who finished first in both of those stats, as well as targets, was Dez Bryant. There have been calls for Bryant to restructure his contract to allow Dallas to keep such players as Butler.

Butler led the NFL with 21.1 yards per reception, based on a minimum of 15 catches. He had six 30-yard receptions, which is more than Bryant had despite having 54 fewer catches than the Cowboys No. 1 receiver.

The Cowboys former No. 1 receiver, Michael Irving, doesn’t think Butler’s limited sample size warrants his right to say “my way or the highway.” Irvin told KRLD radio in Dallas that Butler is wrong for thinking he’s better than Bryant.

“He said, ‘If I’m not starting, I’m not here, and I think I can do all the things better than Dez (Bryant).'” I said wow. But the business is this, I guess,” Irvin said. “I guess everybody becomes a star in this league now. It doesn’t really matter that you’ve had a few years in the league and haven’t really matured and haven’t really materialized and taken over the league.”

Irvin also responded to Butler’s claim that the Cowboys run-heavy offense doesn’t allow receivers to flourish. Irvin thought that Butler must be receiving bad advice from someone to make that claim, but not before taking a shot at Butler’s manhood.

“If Brice Butler’s saying that, where’s he getting it from? Brice Butler ain’t man enough to get out there talking like that,” Irvin said. “He ain’t being smart enough right now. Why should I offer you a whole bunch of money to come to my team when you’re damning the team you just left? Who’s giving him this advice?

“I hear a lot of that, and I think it’s just frustration coming out, and he’s probably perpetuating others’ frustration because he’s never been on that stage anyway. Why was he frustrated? You were frustrated too? What the hell have you ever done that we’re supposed to throw you the ball every snap right now? I call all of that hog wash.”

Butler has 73 receptions in his five-year career which began in Oakland. Bryant has three seasons with more than 73 catches but the last of those was in 2014.

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However, Bryant, as well as Cowboys receivers Terrance Williams and Cole Beasley, are all under contract for next season. Additionally, Cowboys rookie receivers Ryan Switzer and Noah Brown are also under contract for next season.

Butler will be entering unrestricted free agency for the first time in his career, and based on his inflammatory comments and the current contract situation for the other Cowboys receivers, he isn’t expected to return to Dallas.

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Ross Kelly has been a sportswriter since 2009.
Ross Kelly has been a sportswriter since 2009 and previously worked for ESPN, CBS and STATS Inc. A native of Louisiana, Ross now resides in Houston.
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