Getty The Dallas Cowboys are being linked to Tampa Bay Buccaneers WR Mike Evans
The Dallas Cowboys are going “all in” for 2024 according to owner Jerry Jones, which means they will likely need another top receiver. While there are several options in both free agency and the draft, the best available guy may be Tampa Bay Buccaneers star Mike Evans.
Evans has built a resume worthy of the Hall of Fame in Tampa, but will be a free agent this offseason. For Blogging the Boys’ Brian Martin, signing Evans would be the ideal way to complement Cowboys WR CeeDee Lamb.
“Michael Gallup is a potential salary-cap casualty and Brandin Cooks only has a year left if he remains in 2024,” Martin wrote on January 31. “Because of that, Dallas could be in the market for a free agent WR and Mike Evans would be a great fit. He’s coming off a 13-TD season and has hit the 1,000-yard mark receiving each season in his 10-year career. He’d be perfect pairing with CeeDee Lamb.”
The idea of Evans in Dallas should have Cowboys fans salivating. Not only is Evans a proven downfield threat, he has actually played better with QB Baker Mayfield in 2023 than he had the previous three years with QB Tom Brady.
Mike Evans Stars for Buccaneers
For the past decade, Evans has struck fear into fans of the NFC South. After impressing at Texas A&M, Evans was taken seventh overall in the 2014 NFL draft. Since entering the NFL, Evans’ lowest single-season receiving yards total was 1001 in 2017.
He is, simply, one of the most consistent downfield threats the NFL has seen. Even in 2023, he averaged 15.9 yards per catch, his highest average since 2019. His 13 touchdown catches led the NFL according to Pro Football Reference.
While his top speed is somewhat slowing down, Evans is as dangerous downfield as ever. The only problem could be the price of signing him. Spotrac estimates his next contract should pay him around $24 million per year, which is pricey.
But, as Martin mentioned in his article, the release of Michael Gallup and Brandin Cooks could already go a long way to paying the 6’5″ weapon. Evans may want a long-term deal, but the Cowboys could also take a “mercenary” approach and see if he would accept something like $25 million for one year.
Cowboys’ Jerry Jones Could Go ‘All In’
While Dallas has won two division titles and made the playoffs the past three years, the team has failed to reach the NFC Championship. After the latest disappointment, owner Jerry Jones is claiming that the situation call for an “all-in” approach.
Speaking to reporters at the Senior Bowl, the Cowboys owner explained that contracts and other factors are setting this year up for a “Bowl or bust.”
“I would anticipate, with looking ahead at our key contracts that we’d like to address, we will be all-in,” Jones said. “I would anticipate we will be all-in at the end of this year. We will push the hell out of it. It will be going all-in on different people than you’ve done in the past. We will be going all-in. We’ve seen some things out of some of the players that we want to be all-in on.”
What that exactly looks like is unclear. But if Jones is going to put money where his mouth his, Cowboys fans could be in for a blockbuster offseason.