Former NFL head coach with ties to Lions front office plans to call teams to recommend UFL receiver
The Detroit Lions could be on the lookout for receiver help per their general manager Brad Holmes. There's one receiver that could be landing on their door step any day now via an old friend. Legendary coach Wade Phillips, who coached in the NFL from 1976 to 2019, is now the head coach of the San […]
The Detroit Lions could be on the lookout for receiver help per their general manager Brad Holmes. There's one receiver that could be landing on their door step any day now via an old friend.
Legendary coach Wade Phillips, who coached in the NFL from 1976 to 2019, is now the head coach of the San Antonio Brahmas in the UFL. His last job in the NFL was with the Rams as their defensive coordinator from 2017 to 2019. He worked hand in hand with both Holmes and Lions' assistant GM Ray Agnew during that time.
After coaching the Brahmas to a win over the Battlehawks in the conference championship on Sunday, he approached Battlehawks receiver Hakeem Butler while on the air with a reporter from Fox and said "I'm going to tell everyone in the NFL that I talk to, you need to be playing."
Well, we know two people he could talk to that could get Butler signed and that's Holmes and Agnew.
Butler was the UFL's best receiver in 2024. He finished the season with 45 receptions for 657 yards and five touchdowns in 10 games. He was named the league's Offensive Player of the Year and made the All-UFL team this season.
He has that big body and contested catch ability the Lions are looking for as well. Butler is 6-foot-5 and 227 pounds and he can do stuff like this.
Butler does have some NFL experience, but he's had some bad luck in the league. He was a fourth round pick by the Cardinals in 2019, but broke his hand during camp and missed his entire rookie season.
Then the Cardinals waived him and he was signed to the Panthers practice squad. He was in Carolina for a little over a week before the Eagles poached him off the Panthers practice squad and signed him to their active roster. They tried to convert Butler to tight end despite him always being a receiver. They then waived him in 2021.
He didn't get signed by another NFL team until 2023 and then he got hurt in camp and was released. It's just been a rough go for him. This past year in the UFL is exactly what he needed.
With training camp coming up, there's no harm in the Lions taking a look at Butler and seeing if he can help. If he can, be sure to send Phillips a gift basket afterwards. UFL players can be signed by NFL teams on June 17th.
Update: The Panthers are the first to the table on the Butler front.
Wide receiver seems like an even bigger need for the Lions after OTAs and mandatory minicamp
The Detroit Lions neglected to get a wide receiver this offseason. The big reason why the Lions didn't make that move is becasue Lions GM Brad Holmes felt confident in what the team had ahead of OTAs and minicamp. Right off the bat you could see that maybe some of that confidence was coming true […]
