AP

Patriots cornerback Malcolm Butler isn’t going to worry about his next contract, which is probably good since the need for that contract might cause him to get traded to one of the outlying territories.

The former Super Bowl hero told Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald that he’d like to stay in New England beyond the expiration of his rookie deal after the 2016 season.

“One day, it’s going to come,” Butler said. “You just can’t ignore it. I’m just going with the flow, doing my job, making sure I come back in shape, making sure I come back ready to go. If it happens, it happens. I want it to happen. But I can’t control the things I can’t control, so I’m just playing football, glad to be in the NFL, glad to be a Patriots player, and I couldn’t ask for anything more. . . .

“I’m just here to do a job. I’m blessed to even be in the NFL. I came from nothing, so I’m blessed to have everything I have. Whatever happens, happens. I’m just glad to be in the NFL. I’m glad to be a Patriots player. I couldn’t ask for anything else.”

Of course, it’s good that he’s taking that approach, because he doesn’t have much of what you’d call leverage.

Because he’ll be a restricted free agent after this season, the Patriots can squat on him fairly cheaply. Even if they learn from the Broncos’ expensive mistake with C.J. Anderson and use a higher tender, he’s still two years away from the unrestricted market.

And as the Patriots showed by shipping out Chandler Jones yesterday, a contract negotiation on the horizon might bring that player closer to the door. Since Butler was parked for OTAs last year because he showed up late for the first day, he knows first-hand that the nail that sticks up in New England often gets hammered down.