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With no rookie tryouts, Detroit Lions missing out on getting their own Malcolm Butler

A look at the players the Detroit Lions added in the 2020 NFL draft. Detroit Free Press

Malcolm Butler was a small-college gem, just waiting to be discovered.

Butler, a cornerback coming out of Division II West Alabama, was not selected in the 2014 NFL draft. And he was not offered a free-agent contract when the draft ended.

But a few days, the New England Patriots invited him to a rookie tryout. He was one of about 40 players, all of them long shots. Then he started making plays and more plays and kept turning heads and earned an undrafted free-agent contract.