6 rings & football things: Breaking down all the buzz coming out of the combine & Reacting to episodes 5 & 6 of 'The Dynasty'
One of the most consistent, dynamic and somehow still underrated playmakers in the NFL just got paid to stay where he’s played his entire career. His unavailability impacts his own team, the NFC South and the NFL in a number of ways, but also impacts the New England Patriots and their search for a leader under center, too.
According to multiple reports, Mike Evans and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have agreed to a massive two year $52 million extension (with a whopping and well-deserved $35 million guaranteed). Evans, who won a Super Bowl with Tom Brady in 2021, will likely remain a Bucc for his entire career. A 10 year veteran, he’s never had a season with less than 1,000 yards receiving, and is coming off one of his best seasons in 2023. Evans was considered the top free agent wide receiver on the market by a wide margin and his services were likely to have been pursued by multiple teams.
Evans and Brady had great chemistry for three seasons, but once Brady retired Evans did not miss a beat, finding great success in 2023 when he played with…QB Baker Mayfield. Mayfield, also a free agent, has been linked via multiple reports, to the New England Patriots as a possible target for their vacant starting QB spot. Mayfield played in Cleveland for his first four seasons, where he became familiar with Pats de facto GM Eliot Wolf, Pats offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt and Pats QBs coach TC McCartney. These connections were believed to have New England interested in pursuing Mayfield, which would impact their decision on what to do with the third overall pick in the upcoming NFL Draft.
However, now with the Buccaneers’s best offensive player and Mayfield’s favorite target off the market and back in the fold the feeling is Tampa is going to try and run it back from 2023 and re-sign Baker Mayfield. Though nothing is official it would be a shock if Tampa extended Evans at high cost only to lose Mayfield to another team like New England.
Should Mayfield likely return on a big deal to the Buccaneers this means it’s back to the drawing board for the Patriots and their reported QB room extreme makeover for 2024. Signing Mayfield could have meant trading back with their third overall pick to perhaps draft a developmental project type QB, let Mayfield play a few years and build a solid foundation around both. Now perhaps a stop-gap veteran like Jacoby Brissett could be in play and QB could become priority one again for the Patriots with the third pick.
Scratch one top receiver and one top QB off the board for the Pats, and start becoming familiar with all those rookie QBS to be and available free agent veterans, Pats fans. The Pats haven’t made a single signing or draft pick yet and it’s already one of the wildest offseason in memory.
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