Belechick who is a footbal genius has IMO a bit of record of trashing players who are up for contracts (looking for bigger money).He seemed to really turn on Wes Welker during his last season with the Patriots.i think he is can be a downright son of a bitch about it.
He benched Welker at the end off that season as well.
I suspect he thinks thst no player is irreplaceable and that it is the system and discipline that wins games.(his winning stats seem to bear that out over his career)

I've heard one official story that Butler is only 5'9 and the Eagle receivers are much taller.so he was benched in favor of Rowe.

Personally I suspect that gave Butler the Welker shuffle.

What has he got to lose?

The contract thing reminds me of a conspiracy theory going around among Seahawks fans after the Pats beat them on that last-second interception.

The theory went that Paul Allen, the Seahawks owner, ORDERED Pete Carroll to call a pass on that play, rather than just handing off to Marshawn Lynch for what everybody knew would be an easy touchdown, because Lynch's contract was up that year and Allen would have had to give him a big raise if he was the hero of the game.

Probably loopy thinking...but you can see how it could SORT of track...

I cannot imagine any scenario where Belichick would keep Butler out if there were any possibility of him contributing.

Keeping the team in the dark is very strange, too.

If Belichick thought his best defense was on the field, maybe he figured Butler was a step back?