Demands surface.
The stench in the air Joe smells reminds him of driving through the dairy fields of a Midwest countryside on a warm, humid summer night when the farmers were just finished spreading sh!t.
It’s thick out there, boys and girls.
Known fearmonger, Mike Evans’ agent Deryk Gilmore, just got caught talking out of both sides of his mouth.
Last week, appearing on WDAE-AM 620/-FM 95.7, Gilmore made it clear Evans, who is expected to be a free agent next week when the free agency dinner bell rings, “wants to look at all 32 teams.” You know, “Show me the money!”
So either Gilmore was flat out lying to Bucs fans on the radio or he is flat out lying to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.
As Joe has stated before, Gilmore is a bad liar.
Apparently, Gilmore provided Fowler with a list of criteria a team must meet for Evans to consider playing for next year. Shockingly (sarcasm alert) 32 teams do not meet the requirements. Not even close.
Per Fowler, here are the prerequisites a team must have in order for Evans to give a team serious consideration of playing for them.
* Evans wants a quarterback he believes in.
* Team has a shot at a Super Bowl.
* Team has a top-shelf offensive coordinator.
* Wants a promise for a lot of targets.
So let’s break these demands down in relation to Evans and the Bucs.
Quarterback
It seems Evans is tight with Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield. So Joe doesn’t think Mayfield is an issue for Evans. Remember, until Evans broke his collarbone, he had no trouble racking up yards with Mayfield throwing him the ball.
Super Bowl Shot
Uh, oh. This is very tricky. Joe cannot say with a straight face the Bucs are a Super Bowl contender. The way the defense played last year and how the offense collapsed in the second half, even after it got healthier, Joe isn’t 100 percent confident the Bucs are NFC South contenders.
After seeing how Evans reacted in the tunnel after the choke job against Atlanta at home, Joe thinks the Bucs are going to have to do a helluva sales pitch to make him think the Bucs are a Super Bowl contender.
Offensive Coordinator
Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht said at the combine last week that going back to “Liam’s offense” would be “beneficial” to certain Bucs players. Was Licht suggesting Evans would be a beneficiary with Zac Robinson, a Sean McVay disciple like Liam Coen, coming to town to run the Bucs’ offense?
Targets
This is another area where Joe thinks Gilmore is full of it. No, Evans wouldn’t get the targets with the Bucs he would if he played for the Chiefs or Bills. But guess what? He also won’t get double- or triple-covered with the Bucs as he would with the Chiefs or the Bills.
Again, Gilmore is a fearmonger. He has conned people before that Evans had one foot out the door. He’s trying to play people again.
The fact that Gilmore patently lied within a span of about five days what his client, Evans, is looking for should be a big tip off for Bucs fans that Gilmore is trying to shake down the Bucs for more Team Glazer loot.
And honestly, that’s what agents do: Beg and lie to try to get the best deal for their clients, and indirectly, a cut for themselves.