The Saints, despite having limited resources, made a pair of really underrated moves this offseason, signing cornerback Keenan Lewis and linebacker Victor Butler. But the benefits of the latter might already be eliminated as Butler suffered a torn ACL during the second day of Saints minicamp on Tuesday.
Our friend Larry Holder of the New Orleans Times-Picayune reports the nasty news just a day after Butler was helped off the field on Tuesday.
Butler was injured during a collision with running back Mark Ingram near the sideline; Ingram ran off fine but Butler remained on the ground for a while before being helped off by trainers.
"The game that we play is physical, and sometimes those things happen," cornerback Jabari Greer said. "There's no intention of malice or any intention to go out there and hurt anybody, but in a practice or a game, it happens. So if it does, we just pray and lift our guys up and make sure we're being as technique-sound as possible. That's really the only way to do it."
Sean Payton said Tuesday that Butler should be fine, but clearly that wasn't the case. It's a dagger, honestly.
Butler had 11 sacks in four years with the Cowboys, when he started just three games (having DeMarcus Ware and Anthony Spencer on the team will do that to you), and seemed like a perfect fit for Rob Ryan's new defense in New Orleans.
He was the definition of an underrated pass rusher and possibly the most critical signing of the offseason for New Orleans. Now he's likely to spend the entire year watching from the sidelines as the Saints try to manufacture a pass rush with the out-of-place Will Smith, a Junior Galette/Martez Wilson combo, hopeful rookies Chase Thomas/Rufus Johnson or maybe even an outsider like John Abraham.
Regardless it's a nightmare situation for the Saints and their attempt to revamp the defense.