The New England Patriots were interested in Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans, but he had no interest in them, and the same may be true for quarterback Baker Mayfield.
Via The Athletic’s Chad Graff,
“They had planned on making a run at Buccaneers free agent-to-be wide receiver Mike Evans. But even before Evans agreed to a two-year contract Monday to stay in Tampa Bay, the receiver had no interest in coming to the Patriots, according to a league source. The same may be the case for his quarterback.”
Mike Evans didn’t want to go to the Patriots. Doesn’t seem like Baker Mayfield does either.
The Patriots’ harsh reality is they may have to overpay to land top free agents next week. Story: https://t.co/NExBeTSC9o https://t.co/NExBeTSC9o
— Chad Graff (@ChadGraff) March 5, 2024
The Patriots have been looking for a replacement for Tom Brady for awhile now. This report that they were interested in signing Evans and Mayfield seems to keep the Patriots still looking for a quarterback.
Add in the fact that Evans reportedly had no interest in playing in New England just shows the state if the Patriots organization.
Jeremy Morrow recently dropped a series of articles “Re-Sign or Let Walk” covering the Buccaneers pending free agents. Here’s what he had to say about Evans and Mayfield.
On Evans,
Evans is going no where. Again, if I’m the general manager I’m opening up the bank to ensure my most stable player in team history on the offensive side of the ball never wears another uniform. Licht is not going to let him get away.
I also believe by the team doing this you start to create an alure to the Buccaneers. Especially if you couple in Lavonte David in this mix. As long as Licht is general manager players drafted by this team, who are selfless players, and continue to play at a good level get rewarded by this franchise. It goes a long way to showing that loyalties are strong here in Tampa and players who show loyalty to the organization get rewarded. That’s a reputation you can’t beat and a bargaining chip with players who are brought in.
On Mayfield,
Given the outside pressure of other teams trying to find a quarterback and the interest that Baker may see from after this year’s performance bumps up his pirce. The Buccaneers would need to likely offer more than what Spotrac has assessed. So instead of the $27.1 million I could see a bump to the $30 to $32 million a year range with a four year contract.
Mutual interest could very well play a role though. Baker has already stated if he came back it would have to be with Mike Evans. If that’s the case it could be that Baker comes back with a more cap friendly contract so long as it leaves money in place to be used for Mike Evans. Maybe that would push his price to the level that Spotrac assess. But the signings may have to be sequential. Evans would need to be signed first for Baker to consider. Or maybe they must happen simultaneously. As in both players come in for talks and walk out with contracts considering each other. Now, I’m not entirely sure Evans contract is dependent on Baker and Jason Licht should be ready to open the checkbook for him.
At the end of the day I believe Baker will be a Buccaneer next season. One issue here is that it needs to happen in early February. Due to the contract at hand if not then, even if resigned, dead money hits the cap.
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