After sitting out the 2022 campaign, Adam Butler joined the Raiders on a low-cost deal. That one-year pact proved to be a worthwhile investment for the team, something which was essentially duplicated last offseason. 
Playing on another one-year deal in 2024, Butler again proved to be a key contributor on defense for Vegas. The 30-year-old matched last season’s sack total (five) while posting 15 pressures along with a career-high 65 tackles and logging by far the heaviest workload of his career with a 77% snap share. As a result, Butler is among the team’s most notable free agents.
As The Athletic’s Vic Tafur notes, the Vanderbilt product “would love” to re-sign once more with the Raiders (subscription required). Butler is, however, seeking a more lucrative pact this time around. He played on a $1.55MM deal in 2023; that figure rose to $1.8MM this past year. Considering his production, the former UDFA could command a raise on the open market this spring, particularly on a short-term contract.
The Raiders currently sit second in the NFL in projected 2025 cap space, so the team will the option of preventing players like Butler from reaching free agency. Along the defensive interior, the team already has one major contract on the books in the form of 2024 free agent addition Christian Wilkins. Butler is not in line for a deal in the vicinity of the $27.5MM-per-year one Wilkins signed last year, but losing him on the open market would create a notable vacancy. That would especially be true if fellow DT starter John Jenkins were to also depart as a free agent.
Of course, the Raiders have a new regime in place compared to the one which elected to re-sign Butler last year. General manager John Spytek and head coach Pete Carroll will need to decide if authorizing a raise will be worthwhile as the team evaluates other positions of need after a 4-13 season. If Butler does reach free agency, it will be interesting to see how strong his market proves to be.