The hand fracture Hakeem Butler suffered will end his rookie season early. Butler will be placed on the Cardinals’ IR list, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets.
Butler will not be carried through to the Cardinals’ 53-man roster and will instead be placed on IR now. He will be out for the season. The fourth-round pick suffered an avulsion fracture recently and was expected to be out until at least October. His first season will now become a developmental year of sorts.
The Cardinals appeared to prepare for this by signing Michael Crabtree. They drafted two other receivers — Andy Isabella and KeeSean Johnson — and have Christian Kirk back to reprise his role as Larry Fitzgerald‘s top sidekick.
An Iowa State product, Butler broke out in 2018 with the Cyclones. He posted 1,318 yards and nine touchdown receptions. For a Cardinals team that has a 36-year-old wideout playing on a year-to-year basis, Butler still profiles as a key player in the long term.
Tough break, but I think KK wants this guy so rehab to 100% & be ready for next season.
I thought this kid had the most potential out of all the receivers
Always hate seeing injuries in preseason but seeing a rookie lose his entire season is incredibly sad. Spent all that time getting ready and it just ends. I don’t know why they just don’t cut preseason down to two already. Nobody wants to pay to see it & nobody wants their guys getting hurt in a meaningless game.
They charge full price for tickets is why. I agree, as do lots of others with you, but the league doesn’t want to give up the revenue for player safety.