In my years of watching the Bills (since 1989), never has there been so many opinions about a trade. When the team dealt Willis McGahee, a lot of fans were ecstatic about it because the RB had bashed the city and we wanted him jettisoned to Parts Unknown. When Jason Peters got dealt, a lot of fans didn’t like how he held out for more money and how he seemed a little arrogant about getting paid. When Marshawn Lynch was dealt last year, there was hardly an outcry. Not the case for Lee Evans. Fans are angry. Fans are arguing. Fans are showing a lot of passion. I’m sure reporters and talk radio hosts are loving all of this.
I’ve been all over the place with this deal. You know, in our sports world, it always seems that you need to have a black and white approach when it comes to opinions. You are either with us or against us. With this trade, I really can’t decide if the deal makes sense. However, I’ll get into that in a little bit. For this portion of the post, I want to get into the legacy of Lee Evans in Buffalo. Evans leaves the Bills as fourth all-time in receptions (377), third in receiving yards (5,934) and touchdown receptions (43).
So, how will I remember Lee? I will think of Lee as being a really nice guy off the field and because of that, he never nearly got as much criticism as he should have gotten. Lee is one of the last remaining parts of the Donahoe era, an era that represented false hope and expectations that were never met. That’s Lee Evans to me.
A number of fans acted as if he was this great All-Pro player, but he was ranked 111th in catches last year. He was a guy who has only two 1,000 yard seasons on his resume. A guy who has just one 100-yard game over his last 34 starts. A guy who during his seven years in the league, had four seasons of 50-catches or fewer. This is the guy that “WE CANT FRICKEN LOSE?!”
There are so many stats that will tell you why he’s overrated. However, no one wants to really say it. Sure, some are saying it now, as a way to talk themselves into liking the trade, but beforehand, was there really an outcry to get rid of him?
No.
Why? Because over the last 10 years, Evans has been one of the golden gooses for this franchise.
He’s no different than Drew Bledsoe, Willis McGahee, Derrick Dockery, T.O. or Marcus Stroud. Evans was your typical Bills player from the last decade: He was overpaid, overrated, and just another “key player” who was going to guide us to the playoffs. He was nothing more than a part of the ever growing list of players that Bills fans hitched their wagon of hope to, only to then see the wagon break down.
That’s why most fans didn’t get on him during the last four years of his career. He represented a brass ring that we could grab onto and say, “Well, we always have Lee and if we could just get him a decent QB, he’ll be fine. Plus, he’s our guy and he’s well-known on a team with a bunch of nobodies.” Well, that ring is in Baltimore now, and in all honestly, that ring was more imaginary than thinking the Bills would make the playoffs this year with Lee.
Maybe I’m being harsh on Evans, but I’m so sick and tired of hearing about how he’s such a nice guy. This is pro sports, not a popularity contest. The bottom line is that he played like crap over the last four seasons. I’d rather have Evans be a complete jerk and catch 80 balls every year than be a 50 catch wide receiver who helps old ladies cross the street.
Will the Bills miss Lee Evans? I really don’t think so.
Will the fans miss Evans? Up until we have something new to complain about..so, no.
Will fans miss the brass ring? Yes, but hopefully, there will be another one that we can grab onto and this time, maybe we’ll actually get something out of it.
Other Evans trade thoughts:
—I think at this point you’d be kidding yourself if you don’t think Evans wanted out. Paul Peck from Channel 4 and Chris Brown from Bills.com have all heard from sources within the team that Evans asked for this. Now, could it be that the Bills are just feeding reporters BS? It could be, as Mark Gaughan wrote in his chat yesterday, that Evans didn’t spearhead the trade. I’ll say this, the Bills would have known that when the final gun sounded after the Jets game last season, trading Evans would have been in their plans. They could have traded him before the lockout in March. It would have made sense, because they would have gotten a 4th round pick in the 2011 draft, instead of 2012. I think Evans went about it quietly.
—I also think we should look at how the team dealt Lynch last year. The Bills held onto Lynch forever last summer when everyone thought he should have been dealt. Heck, they tried to showcase him for teams during the regular season. That didn’t happen with Evans. Once the rumors picked up – and in this case, it all happened within 5 days – Evans was out. That tells me that he may have just recently told them that he wanted to be dealt. Again, why would the Bills pay him a roster bonus last week and then trade him this week? Doesn’t make sense.
—Whenever a team rebuilds or has a new regime enter the building, they are going to sweep away the veteran players and give the younger guys more reps. When the Sabres stunk in 2002, they dealt Stu Barnes, Rob Ray and Chris Gratton. When Bill Parcells took over the Cowboys in 2003, he threw Emmit Smith on his ass and got rid of anyone who was left from the 90’s Super Bowl teams. Jimmy Johnson did it when he traded away Herschel Walker. There are tons of examples of this in the annals of pro sports history. Now, there are still some guys on this team that should be put to pasture (see: Kelsay and Maybin), but otherwise, this is what you should expect from a team with a new front office.
—The problem is that because the Bills have screwed up so many times over the decade, fans are trained to hate every move they make. When they dealt McGahee, did it change our team? No. When we dealt Peters, did that change our win/loss record? No. The organization as a whole has made so many moves that have done nothing for us in the long run. The only saving grace is that Buddy Nix and Chan Gailey have been on the job for only 18 months.
—I think the biggest problem in all of this is that Bills fans are so fricken miserable right now. I’ve alluded to it multiple times, from Pegulamania to 10 years without playoffs to games in Canada, fans are on edge. There’s really nothing the Bills can do right now that will make us all happy. Because of past failures and endless rumors of the team’s demise after Wilson dies, there will always be a factor of the Bills being underhanded when they deal a player or choose not to sign a free agent. It is going to be a grueling climb. Some fans may jump off the bandwagon this year or join the ever growing Sabres bandwagon. As I’ve said multiple times: Playoffs for 2013.
—As for the “waving the white flag” rhetoric, I guess you could look at it that way. But I still think Evans’ impact was going to be minimal at best. So, that kind of tempers my white flag approach. Again, it goes back to “Rebuilding: 101.” You lose veterans and have the younger kids step up. Now, as for the locker room? That’s another story. #83 is a popular player, but these guys are professionals and need to suck it up. Just look at your game check or view it as a way for other players to step up.
—As for what the Bills got? I’m not surprised. Randy Moss got the Pats a 3rd round pick and Boldin netted a 3rd and a 4th last year. Those guys are much better than Evans. Could the Bills have waited? Frankly, I probably would have. Hey, injuries happen and if a team is desperate, maybe they’d give you more during the regular season. We will never know.
— The money that the Bills have saved on the cap this year could probably go into building 10 Bass Pro shops in Buffalo. How far can a team get under the cap? I get that Buddy would rather re-sign his own players to long-term deals, but right now, we only have like 3-4 players who are worth that sort of money. Bottom line: Don’t ever discredit money when it comes to the Bills. This is the same franchise that sued Wade Phillips and wouldn’t give John Butler a raise. I think this is a big factor in the fans being angry because the move can be viewed as a way to save money in the long run which is something RWJ has been accused of doing multiple times.
—People keep talking about how Nelson, Roosevelt, Jones, or Parrish will all fight to be the 2nd option for Fitz. Um, how about our 1st round pick from last year? To me, CJ Spiller needs to step up in the passing game. That was one of the reasons the Bills gave us when they selected with the 9th pick. They were drooling over his pass catching ability. Well, no a slot opens up for him in the passing game.
—What does bother me about the deal is that I wanted to see what this receiving corp could do if healthy and with another year of experience. However, would it have guided us to a 10-6 record? No. Plus, by the time the team really turns it around (2013), Evans will be past his prime and a free agent.
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