Tampa Bay Buccaneers star wide receiver Mike Evans spoke at length about the big change at quarterback. The Bucs rolled the dice by luring Tom Brady out of New England and consequently released Evans' former partner, Jameis Winston.
Evans has built a friendship bond with Winston but seems every bit cognizant he will be playing with a future Hall of Famer in 2020. Nevertheless, the 6-foot-5 Buccaneers wide receiver, who caught a career-low 67 passes last season, was highly complimentary of Winston.
Via Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times:
“Bro, you played receiver, bro. Obviously, I’m excited,” Evans told former Bucs receiver Louis Murphy of playing with Brady. “Like, Jameis is my dawg. That’s going to be my bro forever, right? That’s going to be my bro forever. Like I wish him nothing but the best. Look, he’s been my quarterback for as long as I’ve played football. He’s been my quarterback for five seasons. My rookie year, he was still in college. I played with Josh and Mike G. Josh McCown and Mike G(lennon). I liked them, too. But I’ve been with Jameis for five seasons. The most of my career. I played with Johnny Manziel for two seasons. But I’ve known him for three. So (Winston) has been the most I’ve been with as far as at quarterback, so I’m always going to have love and respect for Jameis. I think he’s a hell of a player.”
Winston had his share of issues last season, throwing for a career-best 33 touchdowns and 5,109 yards while also throwing 30 interceptions — the worst mark in the league by far.
Evans now has a legendary quarterback on his team and that should reflect in better all-around numbers, yet the wideout peeled back the curtain as to what the Buccaneers would do if they didn't get Brady:
“If we didn’t get Tom? Then obviously we were going to keep Jameis. I don’t know for sure. I’m not the GM. I’m not a coach,” said Evans. “Obviously, I wanted Jameis back because that’s my bro. The opportunity to get Tom Brady. Like, that’s Tom Brady, bro. Like that’s the greatest of all-time. He’s franchise changer. Like he’s about to change the franchise. Like, ticket sales are going through the roof. Like prime time games. And he understands the game of football to nobody else understands that level besides the greats and it’s going to be great to work with him, you understand what I’m saying. The young receiving corps we got, the tight ends we’ve got, we’ve got Gronk coming in…it’s going to be great for the city. And it’s going to be just great overall. Hopefully we have a great season, everybody stays healthy and it pans out the way we want.”
Evans might not be Brady's favorite target from the start now that Rob Gronkowski has returned to the game after a one-year hiatus, but he soon will become one of the trusty hands he will find often as another big, capable target.
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