Three players with Alabama football roots who were facing the prospect of sitting out the 2022 NFL season now have a chance to play this year. But they need to get healthy and find a new team.
The New England Patriots released cornerback Malcolm Butler (West Alabama) and the New York Giants released wide receiver Robert Foster (Alabama) from injured reserve and the Kansas City Chiefs waived running back Derrick Gore (Alabama) off injured reserve on Thursday.
Each player was let go with an injury settlement. Without the settlements, the players would have had to remain on IR for the entire season.
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An injury settlement is an agreement between a player on injured reserve and his team that allows them to part ways immediately. Usually, the settlement pays a player for the number of regular-season games that his injury is likely to keep him sidelined.
Butler went to IR with an undisclosed injury on Aug. 16, Foster went with a hamstring injury on Friday and Gore went with a thumb injury on Tuesday.
Neither Butler nor Foster played last season while Gore saw his first NFL regular-season action in 2021.
Butler was retired last season and was seeking a comeback in New England, where he was a Super Bowl hero and a Pro Bowler during the first four seasons of his NFL career. He has 17 interceptions in 100 regular-season games.
Foster spent most of last season on the Dallas Cowboys’ practice squad. Over the previous three seasons, Foster had caught 32 passes for 642 yards and three touchdowns in 30 games.
Gore entered the NFL from Louisiana-Monroe in 2019. In his first regular-season action, he ran for 256 yards and two touchdowns on 51 carries for the Chiefs in 2021.
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Mark Inabinet is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.