Sometimes in life, we face difficult decisions. Despite their cushy mansions, fancy offices and weekly filet mignon dinners, the grind of the NFL GM can become taxing.
In their cap-driven sport, the salary mathematics are relatively simple. The more you pay one player means the less you can pay another.
In a league where arguably the most important position in sports, the NFL starting quarterback, is paid handsomely, if GMs are not careful, they can find themselves in the middle of an unsustainable roster imbalance in terms of both talent and pay. That’s when problems arise.
After Tampa’s rain-delayed and emotionally deflating Week Two loss to the Cleveland Browns, I listened to countless radio show phone calls from disillusioned fans. I read multiple Tweets and texts from friends, all essentially saying the same darn thing. The same two words could be heard for miles around on yet another thunderstruck afternoon: Fire Bowles.
In an oversimplified and reactionary world, Bowles is an easy target. It’s the NFL and the Buc (no pun intended) must stop somewhere. As defensive coordinator for Bruce Arians’ Super Bowl winning team, Bowles was handed over the reins in 2022 once Arians’ health declined. Since then, the team has had considerably less success and are trending dangerously in the wrong direction.
The Bucs have seen two offensive coordinators, Dave Canales and Liam Cohen, leave One Buc Place and have success elsewhere, the Bucs opting to keep Bowles as head honcho.
Bucs fans are frustrated, understandably so. I mean, they just lost to a Browns quarterback whose career was potentially one more loss from being over.
It’s easy to point fingers. The recently minted Baker Mayfield not hitting targets and being far too gratuitous in the turnover column is a good place to start. We’ve seen a defense that can’t seem to tackle and some questionable, unimaginative playcalling that can also take its share of the blame pie. There’s a blatant disconnect.
But despite all the Fire Bowles sentiment taking the bay area by storm, in my humble opinion, there’s one thing missing.
When the Buccaneers opted not to re-sign Mike Evans this off-season, when they decided to let the best offensive player that this team has ever seen head west to Santa Clara, they left a gaping absence that they have yet, albeit in only two games, to fill. While some of that falls on Bowles, that’s not all his fault.
To be fair, Evans left behind some big cleats to fill. 6’5” receivers do not grow on trees, at least not ones as consistent as him. In addition to tying Jerry Rice for the most consecutive 1000 yard receiving seasons to begin a career, not a bad name to be sitting next to in the record books, Mike Evans was one of the biggest security blankets that Tampa’s offense has ever seen. The Big Mike playbook was straightforward. Get him the ball early and you significantly increase your chances of winning. Don’t… and take your chances.
Despite the obvious simplicity of getting your best player the ball, which is what NFL offenses do, theirs was a recipe for success that was quite often unstoppable or at least gave fans something to cheer for.
Now, in the apocalyptic post-Mike Evans era, the receivers’ room has yet to fill his void with a number one option. The normally surehanded Chris Godwin has yet to prove he’s a consistent number one. After a torrid start to his rookie season, Emeka Egbuka has also failed to present a regular threat. Rookie Ted Hurst is not yet ready and the other options this team has at wide receiver, while talented, are not Mike Evans. Nowhere close.
There can only be one.
I blame not only the wide receivers, and coaches, but the front office, who should have recognized the gap Mike Evans was going to leave behind.
Yes, he got paid. Three years, $43 million dollars, which is more than Tampa wanted to reimburse one of the most beloved players in franchise history. Clearly, One Buc had other priorities than keeping their 12-year vet in the building.
To be clear, I’m not suggesting that paying, or over-paying, a 33-year-old wide receiver, even one as beloved as Mike Evans, is a shrewd business decision.
But you damn well better have an answer if you choose not to do so. This offense, clear cut, once knew what it was. Now, not so much.
The quarterback-wide receiver relationship is intimate. It takes time to recognize each other’s likes and dislikes, where they want the ball and how they run their routes. Mike Evans was as close to automatic as it comes, making quarterbacks’ lives easier all along the way. Heck, even Jameis Winston could find him the ball.
Mike Evans is far and away Tampa’s career leader in receiving touchdowns (108). He has twice as many touchdowns as the next Bucs wide receiver. Godwin, has 41, in only three fewer seasons.
Big Mike left a gaping hole that this franchise failed to prepare for. It’s as simple as that. We can all collectively chant “Fire Bowles!” until were red in the face but that won’t change the fact that this locker room needs to find another number one option quickly.
Until then, expect the inconsistencies, and the chants, to continue.
