Could Mike Evans be a possibility for the Lions?
Normally I wouldn't speculate over stuff like this. I'd just sit back and watch how things work out and keep my mouth shut. You blame Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press for putting the idea that the Detroit Lions could trade for Buccaneers receiver Mike Evans in my head. There's been some drama between […]
Normally I wouldn't speculate over stuff like this. I'd just sit back and watch how things work out and keep my mouth shut. You blame Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press for putting the idea that the Detroit Lions could trade for Buccaneers receiver Mike Evans in my head.
There's been some drama between Evans and the Buccaneers and we got some news on that drama this morning. Evans would liek a new contract and the Buccaneers have yet to offer him one. Evans and his agent have now set a deadline for the Bucs to set him up with a new contract and that deadline in September 9th. That's the Saturday before the majority of the NFL starts its season.
Some quick notes on all this. Evans has not asked for a trade at this time, he isn't holding out and according to his agent, Evans would like to retire a Buc. I believe everything except of the last one. Maybe it is true, but maybe it's also something that gets said a lot and rarely winds up happening.
There's a couple big questions that you have to ask here when it comes to the Lions trading for Evans. Can they afford it? and what would it take?
Can they afford It? Yeah, they can afford it. That's the thing though. If Evans is traded anywhere, part of that trade is going to be that the team that gets him will have to set him up with a new contract. He's likely to command a big one. The Lions can pay that, but then they have to make sure they can also pay Amon-Ra St. Brown next year when he comes looking for an extension. Suddenly you're in a situation where you have skill players taking up a lot of cap. The Lions don't have that problem right now.
What would it take? Well, let's look at some recent receiver trades that would probably match a situation like this. The Dolphins recently traded for Tyreek Hill. They had to send the Chiefs a 1st, 2nd, 4th, future 4th and a future sixth round pick to make it happen. The Eagles traded a 1st and a 3rd to the Titans for A.J. Brown and the Raiders sent a 1st and a 2nd to the Packers for Davante Adams. These a good ideas of what the Lions could pay.
I would say this about the whole thing. The Lions are a team that's ready to contend and and their GM comes from a team that started trading away picks for superstars once they were ready to contend. I don't know if Brad Holmes would follow suit there, but I'll always remember The Athletics Ram's beat writer Jordan Rodrigue told us that she believed that Holmes would probably start trading assets by year three. Here we are in year three.
At the end of the day, I don't think this trade happens. The Bucs are dealing with injuries and receiver and Evans now has them right where he wants them. That is unless the Bucs want to throw themselves head first into a rebuild and try to find a way to get USC's Caleb Williams.
I don't think it happens, but know what I know about Holmes and history, I juts can't fully rule it out. It would be a major move that could make the Lions offense the most dangerous group in the league. It's hard to say no to it.