Dallas Cowboys: Brice Butler gives Cowboys an ultimatum?

The Dallas Cowboys just received an ultimatum from their fourth-string wide receiver Brice Butler. How will the Cowboys front office respond to him?

The Dallas Cowboys have just heard from one of their top wide receivers about hitting free agency. Brice Butler is the team’s fourth-string wide receiver, however, averaged the most yards per catch in the NFL in 2017.

He may have only been targeted 25 times however he managed to convert 15 of those for predominantly big plays. Butler elaborated on what it would take to bring him back to Dallas.

"“With Dallas, the situation has to be right for me to go back, I have to be a starter. If I’m not starting, I’m not going back.”-Brice Butler, appearing on FOX Sports 1"

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This is somewhat of an interesting turn of events as one of the Dallas Cowboys more productive wide receivers wants more targets. The lack of production from the second and third string wide receivers in this offense does raise some questions as to why Butler was not targeted as much as some of the other players in this offense.

Cole Beasley’s numbers dropped significantly as he went from recorded 800 plus yards to only posting 314. He still managed to put up the same amount of touchdowns however the more shocking lack of production comes from the most recently paid wide receiver in this offense, Terrance Williams.

The Cowboys second-string wide receiver only posted 568 yards and never got into the end zone. Butler himself found the end zone three times and posted over half of the yards that Williams recorded.

So Butler does seemingly have a point, he has shown a better nose for the ball in the red zone and could have done more if given the opportunity. Upgrading the Cowboys wide receiving corps is a high priority for this offense during the offseason and it starts at the very top.

Dez Bryant will have to take a pay cut if the Cowboys even hope to retain Demarcus Lawrence let alone Brice Butler. If Bryant does not play ball with the Cowboys front office things could get interesting heading into free agency.

The Cowboys star wide receiver should want another talented receiver to help take some of the pressure/coverage off of himself. Players like Marquise Lee, Allen Robinson, Mike Wallace, John Brown, and even potentially Jarvis Landry could be on the open market.

Anyone of those players would help out this receiving corps immensely. The fact of the matter is that the Cowboys need more production from all of their wide receivers as multiple players could be replaced heading into free agency.

Williams and Beasley will have cap hits of around $4 million in 2018 and Bryant’s will be an astronomical $16.5 million which is 9.85 percent of the Dallas Cowboys salary cap.  Quarterback, Dak Prescott needs more weapons and the ineffectiveness of his receivers was made painfully obvious to everyone watching during the 2017 regular season.

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Butler may be right to look for greener pastures in terms of opportunity as the Cowboys do not seem inclined to take snaps away from receivers (players in general) who make a significant sum. If that is the case, the Cowboys front office should look to pursue other options at this time.