The Patriots and second-round pick Darius Butler have agreed on a four-year contract.

The news was first reported Friday morning via the Twitter feed of Butler’s agent, Drew Rosenhaus, and later confirmed by the Patriots.

Butler is the cousin of Baltimore running back Willis McGahee. (AP)

Butler, the 41st overall pick in the 2009 draft out of Connecticut, is the second of New England’s 12 draft picks to agree to a contract. Offensive lineman Rich Ohrnberger also received a four-year deal from the Patriots last month.

(UPDATE, 10:50 a.m.  — According to Pro Football Talk, per a league source, Butler will receive a roster bonus of $440,000 and a guaranteed option bonus of $1.6275 million. He’ll receive base salaries of $310,000 in 2009, $395,000 in 2010, $582,500 in 2011, and $770,000 in 2012.)

A four-year starter at cornerback for the Huskies, he finished eighth on the school’s career record list with 10 interceptions. He also returned kicks at UConn, and is the first player in Big East Conference history to produce a touchdown on a kickoff return, interception, reception and rushing attempt in a career.

With the New England secondary in a state of transition — three of the four defensive backs who started last season with the Patriots have either been released, traded or have retired — Butler may get his chance to contribute sooner rather than later.

Butler certainly impressed Patriots head coach Bill Belichick with his Pro Day workout at UConn.

“He had an excellent workout,” Belichick said of Butler shortly after he was drafted. “There is no doubt about it. He’s fast, quick; he has good ball skills. He’s an excellent athlete.”

When Patriots’ Director of Player Personnel Nick Caserio was asked about him this past spring, he gave a similar response.

“Quite frankly, we were surprised he was on the board at No. 41,” Caserio said of Butler, a Florida native who is the cousin of Baltimore running back Willis McGahee. “He’s a pretty versatile guy — his Pro Day workout, it was a real impressive workout. He’s a good kid, a good character kid. We’re excited to have him here.”

6 Comments for “Butler, Pats agree on four-year deal”

1. beauli7 Says:
   July 10th, 2009 at 10:58 am

   Interesting to hear that they were suprised Butler was available at 41 considering they picked at 34 and 40, passing on him both times. Seems they must have been extremely high on Chung (who was a favorite of mine). I’m curious to know how high Chung was on their overall draft board.

2. Christopher Price Says:
   July 10th, 2009 at 11:42 am

   Beauli7,

   They liked Chung, but the combine was where he really cemented his spot as a favorite of theirs. “After 15 minutes, we were ready to run through a wall,” Caserio said of Chung’s combine interview with the Pats. “It was like, ‘Sign me up.’ … This is one of these guys, the more you’re around him, you like what you see.”

   –Chris

3. beauli7 Says:
   July 10th, 2009 at 2:50 pm

   A buddy of mine was a coach at Oregon during some of his years, said he was an awesome kid who just loves the game, works his butt off and loves special teams. He’s the guy I’ll be following closest come training camp. Any insight you can provide (assuming you’ll be attending practices) on him during that time would be awesome!

4. Nostical Says:
   July 11th, 2009 at 2:14 am

   Darius Butler will be a certified star. He is simply an amazing athlete who also has a knack for a good media quote. He’ll be exciting on kickoff returns and a lock down corner on defense. The Pats are fortunate to have him on the roster.

5. Christopher Price Says:
   July 14th, 2009 at 11:50 am

   @Nostical,

   Thanks for the heads up. As a writer, I’m hoping he’ll be a good quote — you can’t have too many of those guys. (Maybe it’s the No. 27 — before he departed for Philly, Ellis Hobbs was a pretty good quote as well.) I believe he’ll be in the mix as a returner this year. He might see some time at corner this year, but with a lot of veterans in front of him, it might be an uphill climb at that spot.

   Thanks,
   Chris

   @beauli,
   I will keep an extra close eye on Chung once camp rolls around — I will be there, so make sure you keep checking the blog for updates once TC begins on July 30. I’ve talked to a lot of folks about Chung, and they have nothing but good things to say. In the context of this conversation, it’s also interesting to note that Chung and Butler have become fast friends — they met at the combine and roomed together during rookie minicamp.

   Thanks,
   Chris

6. PatsFan Says:
   July 14th, 2009 at 12:33 pm

   LOL @ Nostical for saying he’ll be a lock down corner. There are only 2-3 of those in the NFL. But lets just say he is one. By the time he gets that good…he’ll unfortunately be off playing for another team.

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