Weeks after Matt Patricia didn't use -- or get to use -- Malcolm Butler in a Super Bowl loss in their last game as Patriots, the coach had interest in bringing his top cornerback to come with him to the Lions.

Interest is all it was, though.

Butler revealed this week in a short Sports Illustrated documentary that he never got a formal offer from the Lions. Patricia and Bob Quinn, who oversaw Butler's rise in New England, reached out with interest early in the process but did not appear to submit a formal offer, based on the telling in the documentary.

Butler cleared up some more of what has been constant confusion about him, his fallout with the Patriots and his free-agent market. Reports had revealed that the Lions and Texans were in a dead heat for Butler near the start of free agency, only for the Titans to swoop in and sign him with a lucrative deal worth $61 million over five seasons.

The documentary shows that the Titans were among the most interested from the start, along with the Bears. Chicago offered a three-year, $30 million deal. The Texans did make an offer, but it was for only one season. Butler, who worked from an undrafted free agent out of West Alabama to the top cornerback of the two-time AFC champions, said he wasn't interested in another tryout.

The Lions expressed early interest, his agent informed Butler, but they did not make the final list of offers. Tennessee upped its offer substantially in the later rounds, and Butler made it clear that that's where he wanted to go.

Given that Patricia and Quinn know as much as can be known about Butler the player and personality, it's easy to deduce that the money was out of their price range, even when it was sitting at an average of $10 or $11 million a year. Quinn said at the NFL Scouting Combine that he was going after second- and third-tier free agents since the Lions had a number of holes to fill, and that's ultimately what he did, signing players like linebackers Devon Kennard and Christian Jones, running back LeGarrette Blount, tight end Luke Willson and defensive tackle Sylvester Williams.

The money for a top cornerback was going to be tough with what the Lions are already paying Darius Slay. The Pro Bowler is playing on a four-year, $48 million deal. His cap hit is only $6.1 million for this year but skyrockets to more than $15 million each of the next two. They did release tight end Eric Ebron from his fifth-year option to save $8.25 million, but that's a fraction of the sum of the $30 million in guarantees that Butler will wind up taking in.

The Lions likely knew they liked Butler as a player and wanted to check what his market would look like after Butler sat out New England's Super Bowl loss to the Eagles. Neither Patricia nor Bill Belichick have offered much explanation for the move, and Butler said in the documentary that it was simply a coach's decision that started with his absence for an illness and included other factors.

"I would characterize my relationship with Malcolm as extremely strong," Patricia said at the combine, just a couple weeks before free agency. "I love Malcolm a lot. Like all of my players, he's like one of my sons. I want to make sure he does everything to the best."

Butler's agent said early in the process that he didn't feel the benching would affect Butler's market, and it didn't appear to for the Titans, who made him one of the highest-paid cornerbacks in the league. Like the Lions and Texans, the Titans are run by former Patriots brass.

At one point in the film, Butler asks his brother what he thinks he should do, and the brother says his preference would be for him to play in Detroit or Houston. Detroit had some interest, too.

It was only interest in the end.