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The New England Patriots have a new coach, Jerod Mayo, and a solid returning defense. But there is little known about what kind of offense the team will have, which happens to be a pretty major problem—they were 31st in points scored last season and 30th in yardage. The Patriots were rated 29th in offense on Pro Football Focus’ grading scale, with a mark of 63.4. Fixing those issues will need to be a priority in free agency.
The team will need a new quarterback and will also need to remake the offensive line. But the Patriots will also have to address an area that way too often was overlooked under the previous regime: the wide receivers.
With that in mind, Bleacher Report has the Pats going all-in on the receiver market in this year’s free agent crop, pushing the team to make one of the most consistent stars in the league the team’s top target when free agency opens: Buccaneers star Mike Evans.
Mike Evans Has 10 Straight 1,000-Yard Seasons
Few wideouts have ever had the kind of career that Evans has had. He caught 68 passes for 1,051 yards as a rookie in 2014, the first of 10 straight seasons in which Evans went over 1,000 yards receiving. He has 762 catches for 11,680 yards in his career and has shown no signs of slowing down, even now that he is 30. Evans had 79 catches for 1,255 yards this year and led the league with 13 receiving touchdowns.
Not a bad starting point for an offense badly in need of an identity. Landing Evans would be a big boost for a potential rookie quarterback, should the Patriots go for Caleb Williams, Drake Maye or Jayden Daniels with the No. 3 pick in the NFL draft.
As analyst Joe Tansey put it: “The Patriots struck out in their previous attempts to land a No. 1 wide receiver in free agency. They could go the draft route and land (Marvin) Harrison at No. 3, but they should at least take a big swing at Mike Evans in free agency. …
“A potential Evans signing would then allow the Patriots to either go after a quarterback or offensive tackle with the No. 3 pick.”
And it should be noted that B/R does not stop there for the Patriots at the wide receiver spot. If not Evans, the No. 2 player on the site’s Patriots wish list is receiver Tee Higgins of the Bengals. Michael Pittman of Indianapolis and Calvin Ridley of the Jaguars—both receivers, too—are Nos. 3 and 4.
Patriots Would Have to Pay in Free Agency
Of course, the caveat with Evans is that he will not come cheap. He was unable to reach a deal on an extension with the Buccaneers before the start of the season, but he is coming off a five-year, $82.5 million contract and, even with his advancing age, is expected to land a much bigger deal on the market. Spotrac projects his market value at nearly $24 million, with a four-year, $95 million contract looming.
Pro Football Focus has Evans in just about the same market range, projecting a three-year, $69 million contract.
On Sunday, after the Buccaneers lost to the Lions (Evans had 147 yards and a touchdown) Evans addressed his future. It will not be easy for the Bucs to sign him, because the team is looking at a tight payroll crunch, but he reiterated that he would like to stay.
“I’ve been on record saying how much I love this place and how much I want to be here,” Evans said, via the Tampa Bay Times. “Not a lot of guys finish with one team so that will be amazing if I get to do that but, you know, we’ll see. I’m still trying to get over this loss.”
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