The move didn't necessarily make headlines, but it was a move that would help the Patriots win Super Bowl XLIX.
Patriots corner Malcolm Butler commemorated the day he signed with the team two years ago by posting a photo to Instagram on Thursday.
Butler signed with the Patriots out of Division 2 West Alabama after watching all seven rounds of the 2014 NFL Draft come and go without hearing his name called. Even in the immediate aftermath of the draft, Butler went unclaimed as an undrafted free agent.
It wasn't until he heard from cornerbacks coach Josh Boyer that the Patriots were willing to take him in for a tryout that Butler had received any kind of offer from any team.
Frantzy Jourdain, then a Patriots scout, had helped identify that Butler had potential. And it seemed clear to several members of the staff that, at least on tape, Butler played faster than the 4.6-second 40-yard dash speed he recorded at the University of Alabama's pro day earlier in the year.
New England Patriots
When Butler arrived to New England for his tryout, he shaved his 40-time by almost a full tenth of a second and earned a longer look. After just one practice, as Bleacher Report's Dan Pompei noted in his piece on Butler's journey, he was called to coach Bill Belichick's office and informed that he was being offered a spot on the roster.
"The bigger factor was just watching him play," Belichick told Pompei. "When we watched him play, immediately, you are like, this guy has some skill. He's explosive, he has a good short-area burst, he runs. After one practice, we said, 'We should sign this guy,' "
On May 19, 2014, that's exactly what they did. They wouldn't regret it.