ESPN Lists Carolina Panthers as Best Fit For Mike Evans in Free Agency
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On March 13, NFL free agency officially begins and legal negotiation will have already been underway for a couple of days. With this, plenty of questions will begin to be answered. For the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, there are two large unanswered questions, and that is whether or not Mike Evans and Baker Mayfield will return to the franchise.
ESPN's Matt Bowen wrote about each of the top 50 free agents' best landing spots, which naturally included Mike Evans at No. 12 on the list. Right behind Evans at No. 12 was Baker Mayfield, sitting at No. 13.
Bowen listed the Carolina Panthers as the best landing spot for Evans in free agency.
"Evans could follow Panthers coach Dave Canales to Carolina after he had 1,255 receiving yards and a league-leading 13 touchdown catches in the same offensive system last season in Tampa Bay. Evans is still playing at an extremely high level, and he'd be an immediate (and needed) upgrade for Panthers quarterback Bryce Young as a multiple-level target with red zone upside," Bowen wrote.
Canales' ability to utilize Mayfield and Evans as a duo is what put him on the map to eventually secure a head coaching job at the NFL level. Bringing Evans in to pair him with Young, who hasn't had the best set of receivers in his short NFL career, is an intriguing thought.
Evidently, it's hard to imagine that Evans making a move to the Panthers is a better move than him returning to the Buccaneers. If Tampa Bay is able to return Mayfield, Evans' best chance to compete between the two options might come in Tampa rather than Carolina.
Again, the idea of Evans following Canales to Carolina is far from a bad idea. The move would also likely see plenty of growth in a short span from Bryce Young as he'd have a reliable target to help him grow his game.
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