22 year old Barnsley midfielder Jacob Butterfield became Chris Hughton's second signing of the 2012/13 pre-season when he joined Norwich on a four year contract. His contract with Barnsley ad expired but Norwich will have to pay compensation due to his youth. The amount will be decided by tribunal. Manager Keith Hill, who hoped Butterfield would stay at Oakwell, is unhappy with the offer the Canaries have made for the player. "It seems ridiculous that they are going to try and get him for as little as they possibly can," he told BBC Radio Sheffield. "The initial offer is an absolute joke. It's scandalous, disrespectful to Barnsley as well as the management teams and his team-mates." A fee was agreed between the clubs on 20th July 2012

Despite his youth, Butterfield had captained the Tykes and had made 100 appearances for them. He was previously at Manchester United for seven seasons as a youngster. He had been called up to the England Under-21 squad when he injured his knee against Leeds in December 2011 and did not play again in the 2011/12 season.

Butterfield said: “I am absolutely delighted, Norwich is a big club and did fantastic in the Premier League last season and after speaking to Chris about how much he wanted to bring me here to the club he really sold it to me. I’m really looking forward to getting on now and working under the gaffer. I spoke to him several times and was really impressed with him; his knowledge of football is second to none. It’s a big club and everyone knows that, the training ground is lovely and Carrow Road is a great stadium. I’ve met a lot of lovely people already and I’m delighted to have signed. I’m just looking forward to getting down here and getting in to it now.”

Manager Chris Hughton said: “He’s a player that has shown great form at Barnsley in the first half of last season playing off the front of the striker and he also spent some time in the wider areas there. He caught my eye not only last season, but in previous seasons. His form last year was a very good period for him and for anybody who didn’t know about him before, he certainly would’ve caught their eye last season. That is of course before he picked up an injury which is over now, which we are delighted about, but he’s a talent. He’s got that good balance between being a good age, but at 22-years old he’s also got that league experience as well. He’s a player very much on the up.”

He made his Norwich debut in the Capital One Cup clash with Doncaster Rovers on 26th September 2012.

On 8th November 2012, Butterfield was loaned to Bolton for a month to get match experience. City boss Chris Hughton believes the 22-year-old needs more match action: “It was a tough decision, because we brought Jacob here in the summer, and he has been involved in squads but hasn’t had the minutes on the football pitch that he would have liked. He’s quite a way from having played regular football, so it’s a really good opportunity for him in a short period of time to get some games under his belt, and then of course come back here even stronger. The only reason he’s going out on loan is to get games, and at this particular moment we are able to do that because we haven’t got too many injuries. He has done well here, trained well here, and we could be selfish and keep him here, but we have to look at it from the club’s point of view that we want him firing on all cylinders.We were also very conscious of where he went, and when the opportunity came for him to go to a club of the stature of Bolton Wanderers at Championship level, that certainly had something to do with the decision.”

Butterfield returned to Norwich on 3rd January 2012 having made 9 appearances for Bolton.

Butterfield played in Norwich's third round FA Cup tie at Peterborough before joining Crystal Palace on loan until 19th February 2013. He made nine appearances for the Eagles.

Butterfield was sold to Middlesbrough for an undisclosed fee on 2nd September 2013 (Transfer Deadline Day). He signed a three-year contract with a one-year option to extend

In August 2014, Butterfield was linked with a move to Huddersfield as part of the deal that would see Adam Clayton join Boro. Butterfield was supposedly interested as he had played for Terriers' manager Mark Robins at Barnsley. However this deal looked less likely after Robins' sacking on 10th August and with Clayton expressing a wish to join Brighton instead.

Butterfield eventually signed for Huddersfield on 13th August 2014 as part of the deal that saw Clayton join Middlesbrough. He had played 32 games for Boro.

On 1st September 2015, Butterfueld moved to Derby with the Rams paying Huddersfield £4million for him. He had made 52 appearances for the Terriers, scoring seven goals, and was named Player of the Season.

On 15th June 2016, Jacob was arrested at his own engagement party for assaulting one of the guests.

Butterfield returned to Yorkshire on 31st August 2017 joining Sheffield Wednesday on loan in a move that saw Owl's striker Sam Winnall join Derby.

On 31st January 2019, he was loaned to Bradford City until the end of the 2018/19 season. Unfortunately he could not help them avoid relegation to League Two on 19th April 2019 following a 2-0 defeat at Coventry. He was substituted in the 71st minute.

In July 2019, he began training with Blackburn Rovers ahead of a potential move. This was confirmed by Rovers' manager Tony Mowbray. Instead he signed for Luton Town on 30th July 2019 after having his contract with fellow Sky Bet Championship side Derby County terminated by mutual agreement. He was released by Luton at the end of the 2019/20 season having played 17 games and scoring once.

On 26th October 2020 he signed for Australian side Melbourne Victory (date recorded at 21st November 2020 by Soccerbase). He made 26 appearances for Victory, scoring three goals.

On 21st December 2021 he joined Scottish Premiership side St Johnstone until the end of the 2021/22 season. He scored his first goal for the Saints on 22nd December 2021 against Ross County.

On 18th July 2022 he joined Conference newcomers Scunthorpe following a trial. In May 2024, Scunthorpe United announced that Butterfield would depart the club upon the expiration of his contract having rejected a new deal. He had been named their Player of the Year for 2023/24.

He moved to National League side Gateshead on 30th July 2024 on a one year deal with the option to extend.