Jahri Evans In Free Agency?

February 24th, 2015

The free agency dinner bell rings in 14 short days

Early last preseason, Lovie Smith and Jason Licht advised Bucs fans to stop panicking about poor offensive line play.

The rest is history. The Bucs’ leaders, one could say, panicked themselves a few weeks later and made a deal with the devil.

Joe’s referring to Bill Belicheat and the late-August trade for barbecue master left guard Logan Mankins.

Joe will be kind and say things didn’t work out on the O-line last season.

Word out of New Orleans now has the living-in-salary-cap-hell Saints negotiating a pay cut for Pro Bowl right guard Jahri Evans and/or preparing to release him. You can read the Times-Picayune story here.

Oh, Joe already can hear the screams from legions of fans begging for the Bucs not to sign another high-mileage offensive lineman past his prime.

Evans turns 32 in August, has made six consecutive Pro Bowls and has missed just two games in his nine-year career. But Evans didn’t have his best season last year while battling a wrist injury that required offseason surgery.

Joe doesn’t want old, nosediving players either. But Joe’s not going to write off potentially signing Evans in free agency before the price tag is clear.

As far as the Bucs’ mindset, publicly the regime happily says Logan Mankins and Evan Dietrich-Smith are foundation pieces of the franchise. Heck, Joe would wager Evans is better than both of those guys.

28 Responses to “Jahri Evans In Free Agency?”

  1. Nick Says:

    Something about this feels familiar…?

  2. Snook Says:

    PASS

  3. JoeJoes Fungi Nails Says:

    We have had bad luck in the past with Saints FA’s
    and Clemson draft picks
    that aside we are rebuilding and not going ANYWHERE next year…stick with youth

  4. Nole on Sat.-Bucc on Sun. Says:

    Amen joejoe amen…

  5. CreamsicleBananaHammock Says:

    would rather go after Iupati or Orlando Franklin or both

  6. unbelievable Says:

    If we could have gotten Evans 2 or 3 years back, that would have been great.

    We dont need any more 30+ year old lineman who are slipping past their prime. Go with youth as Joe said and lets build a goddamn line that lasts the next 5 – 7 years!

  7. LUVMYBUCS Says:

    Ask Hudson Houck his opinion.

  8. LUVMYBUCS Says:

    Quality offensive lines are built on a bedrock of high-round draft choices.

    ref: Dallas

  9. LUVMYBUCS Says:

    Since 1990, there have been 15 teams to have taken linemen in back-to-back drafts, and the Cowboys are the third team to do so in that span. 11/15 of the teams that employed the back-to-back linemen strategy ended up winning a playoff game within two seasons

  10. LUVMYBUCS Says:

    Per: Jerry Jones

    “Now, it doesn’t necessarily need to be number ones, but you certainly have to have the quality,”

  11. WS99 Says:

    Draft and develop stop adopting kids and make your own. No nannys we’ll raise them ourselves. Stop being stupid n stop getting ripped off. What did we spend on our line last year 20mil? Plus the injury settlement to nicks. Fck if the bucs got money to burn I have a few student loans they’re welcome to pay off for me.

    #thestruggleisreal

  12. TbDEPRESSEDFAN Says:

    Just afraid to pick up another o-lineman from New Orleans that will get a boat load of money and get MERSA, or turf toe, and get put in IR. I dunno joe is that too soon? Yea I’m talking about the useless lineman Carl nicks that we are still paying and didn’t contribute anything to this team. Granted Evans might be better than nicks but only if we are not going to pay him like we did with nicks. It seems like every free agent we have picked up but less than a hand full have been worth their pay. And I am talking about since the dawn of time in the 70’s.

  13. LUVMYBUCS Says:

    Build the offensive line through the draft.

    On the other hand, use free agency to sign PROVEN talent across the Front 7. This way our stacked up defensive talent, can sko͞ol the youngins on offense.

    #TrialByFire

  14. Joehelldeloxley Says:

    Joe, as you say, it will depend of the price !
    If the salary is in accordance with his age, it could be a good risk to take.

  15. LUVMYBUCS Says:

    (Projected Round Sections)

    2nd Round Prospects
    • Laken Tomlinson OG Duke 6-3 323

    3rd Round Prospects
    • Tre’ Jackson RG FSU 6-4 330
    • John Miller RG Louisville 6-2 303
    • Donovan Smith LG PSU 6-6 338

    4th Round Prospects
    • Rob Havenstein RT Wisconsin 6-7 321
    • Jamil Douglas LG ASU 6-4 304
    • B.J. Finney C KSU 6-4 324

    5th Round Prospects
    • Jamon Brown LG Louisville 6-4 323
    • Shaquille Mason RG G.Tech 6-2 310

    6th Round Prospects
    • Tayo Fabuluje RT TCU 6-6 353
    • Max Garcia C Florida 6-4 309

    7th Round Prospects
    • Dillon Day C Miss.State 6-4 305
    • Chaz Green LG Florida 6-5 314
    • Mitch Morse LG Missouri 6-5 305

  16. Ray Rice Says:

    Oh hell no!

  17. The Real Malloy Says:

    No more saints guards and no more Bengals anything….that should be our mantra after the last few seasons..

  18. Dean Says:

    He is gonna want 7-8 Million. That’s what Mankins is being paid. Now, here is the kicker. Get him in free agency. Pay the 7 or 8 mil to bring him on board. Then look at the draft. If you can get a top notch guard in the draft, you can cut Mankins and get back 7 million, because none of his high salary is guaranteed.

    You just upgraded your offensive line and the most it could cost you is 1 million. That’s peanuts, when you have 30 million in available cap space right now.

  19. John McKillop Says:

    32 years old before the season starts, no more older guys closer to the downside than to the upside. younger free agent talent or draft and develop our own guys period!

  20. Skyline Crew Says:

    Doug Free RT 31 DAL TBD $6,520,000 UFA
    Bryan Bulaga RT 25 GB TBD $3,829,000 UFA
    Michael Oher RT 28 TEN TBD $3,000,000 UFA
    Tyler Polumbus RT 29 WAS TBD $2,600,000 UFA
    Corey Hilliard RT 29 DET TBD $1,900,000 UFA
    Jeremy Parnell RT 28 DAL TBD $1,833,333 UFA
    Derek Newton RT 27 HOU TBD $1,446,064 UFA
    Marshall Newhouse RT 26 CIN TBD $805,000 UFA
    Mike Johnson RT 27 ATL TBD $675,000 UFA
    Byron Stingily RT 26 TEN TBD $672,625 UFA
    Michael Person RT 26 STL TBD $645,000 UFA
    Joe Barksdale RT 26 STL TBD $645,000 UFA
    Jason Fox RT 26 MIA TBD $635,000 UFA
    Don Barclay RT 25 GB TBD $570,833 RFA
    Austin Pasztor RT 24 JAC TBD $570,000 ERFA
    Ryan Harris RT 29 KC TBD $570,000 UFA
    Eben Britton RT 27 CHI TBD $536,471 UFA
    Garrett Reynolds RT 27 DET TBD $536,470 UFA
    Paul Cornick RT 25 DEN TBD $420,000 ERFA
    Eric Winston RT 31 CIN TBD $134,118 UFA

  21. Skyline Crew Says:

    Michael Roos LT 32 TEN TBD $6,625,000 UFA
    Byron Bell LT 26 CAR TBD $2,187,000 UFA
    Paul McQuistan LT 31 CLE TBD $1,580,000 UFA
    Benjamin Ijalana LT 25 NYJ TBD $926,658 UFA
    Chris Hairston LT 25 BUF TBD $748,977 UFA
    Willie Smith LT 28 SD TBD $645,000 UFA
    Bradley Sowell LT 25 ARI TBD $570,000 UFA
    Bryce Harris LT 26 NO TBD $570,000 RFA
    Tom Compton LT 25 WAS TBD $570,000 RFA
    Mike Harris LT 26 MIN TBD $570,000 RFA
    Tony Hills LT 30 DAL TBD $472,353 UFA
    Will Svitek LT 33 TEN TBD $368,823 UFA
    Jonathan Scott LT 32 ATL TBD $335,294 UFA
    Bryant Browning LT 26 PIT TBD $303,000 RFA

  22. Skyline Crew Says:

    Mike Iupati G 27 SF TBD $4,625,863 UFA
    Dan Connolly G 32 NE TBD $4,083,333 UFA
    Rob Sims G 31 DET TBD $3,775,000 UFA
    Erik Pears G 32 BUF TBD $3,450,000 UFA
    Jeromey Clary G 31 SD TBD $3,300,000 UFA
    James Carpenter G 25 SEA TBD $2,431,364 UFA
    Willie Colon G 31 NYJ TBD $2,000,000 UFA
    Daryn Colledge G 33 MIA TBD $2,000,000 UFA
    Mike Pollak G 30 CIN TBD $1,766,666 UFA
    Davin Joseph G 31 STL TBD $1,750,000 UFA
    Clint Boling G 25 CIN TBD $1,551,362 UFA
    Joe Reitz G 27 IND TBD $1,431,000 UFA
    Orlando Franklin G 27 DEN TBD $1,386,000 UFA
    Jeff Linkenbach G 27 KC TBD $900,000 UFA
    Gabe Carimi G 26 ATL TBD $832,500 UFA
    Jah Reid G 26 BAL TBD $785,810 UFA
    Paul Fanaika G 28 ARI TBD $780,000 UFA
    James Brewer G 27 NYG TBD $758,023 UFA
    Chris Spencer G 32 TEN TBD $635,000 UFA
    John Jerry G 28 NYG TBD $635,000 UFA
    Oniel Cousins G 30 TB TBD $635,000 UFA
    Vladimir Ducasse G 27 MIN TBD $635,000 UFA
    Adam Snyder G 33 NYG TBD $570,000 UFA
    Will Rackley G 25 BAL TBD $570,000 UFA
    Garry Williams G 28 CAR TBD $551,882 UFA
    Steve Schilling G 26 SEA TBD $517,000 UFA
    Ben Garland G 26 DEN TBD $420,000 UFA
    Ryan Seymour G 25 CLE TBD $320,294 ERFA
    Kevin Hughes G 26 CAR TBD $318,000 RFA
    Brandon Washington G 26 STL TBD $262,058 ERFA

  23. Skyline Crew Says:

    Nick Hardwick C 33 SD TBD $6,150,000 UFA
    Will Montgomery C 32 DEN TBD $1,925,000 UFA
    Samson Satele C 30 MIA TBD $1,859,375 UFA
    Dominic Raiola C 36 DET TBD $1,500,000 UFA
    Stefen Wisniewski C 25 OAK TBD $1,315,810 UFA
    Rodney Hudson C 25 KC TBD $1,115,577 UFA
    Brian De La Puente C 29 CHI TBD $795,001 UFA
    Doug Legursky C 28 SD TBD $687,059 UFA
    Jacques McClendon C 27 JAC TBD $645,000 ERFA
    Jonathan Goodwin C 36 NO TBD $635,000 UFA
    Joe Berger C 32 MIN TBD $635,000 UFA
    Rich Ohrnberger C 29 SD TBD $635,000 UFA
    A.Q. Shipley C 28 IND TBD $570,000 RFA
    Tim Barnes C 26 STL TBD $570,000 RFA
    Cody White C 26 HOU TBD $570,000 RFA
    Kevin Matthews C 28 CAR TBD $570,000 UFA
    Brian Folkerts C 25 CAR TBD $495,000 ERFA
    Matt McCants C 25 OAK TBD $495,000 ERFA
    Trevor Robinson C 24 SD TBD $402,352 RFA
    Josh Samuda C 26 MIN TBD $318,000 RFA
    Eric Olsen C 26 TEN TBD $189,705 UFA

  24. Dave Says:

    you people need a life and a job

  25. ddneast Says:

    Wager all you want Joe, but Ebans had a real NFL OC last year, unlike the Bucs. I’m sure that made a big difference in how the team played.

  26. Brandon Says:

    Can we NOT overpay for an OG for a change? IGreat OGs can be found in the 5th round.

  27. BoJim Says:

    Dave Says:

    you people need a life and a job
    ___________________________________________

    lol

  28. Fuzzy Red Coin Purse Says:

    @Skyline Crew

    Damn dude, your on it like blue bonnet. Were you at work and listing all that?