Las Vegas Raiders sign former Buffalo Bills defensive tackle Vernon Butler

The Las Vegas Raiders signed former Buffalo Bills defensive tackle Vernon Butler to a one-year contact, according to a report from NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Butler, who is just 27 years old entering his seventh professional season, was largely ineffective during his two-year stint in Buffalo. During the 2021 season, he appeared in ten games, making one start. He had 11 tackles, none of which went for a loss, and added one quarterback hit. During his two years with the Bills, he did not record a sack and accounted for just 29 total tackles, five of which were for a loss.

Butler was Buffalo’s DT4 in terms of total snap numbers, as he was a main member of a rotation that included Harrison Phillips, Ed Oliver, and Star Lotulelei for much of last season. After an atrocious performance against the Indianapolis Colts, however, Butler was a healthy scratch for five of the team’s final nine games, including the playoffs. He never played more than 26 snaps in the four games he played after the loss to the Colts.

The Bills have replaced three of the top four defensive tackles in the aforementioned rotation, releasing Lotulelei and watching Phillips and Butler sign with the Minnesota Vikings and the Raiders, respectively. Buffalo signed Tim Settle, Jordan Phillips, and DaQuan Jones as free agents this month.