By Breanna Jacobs
This afternoon, it was announced that the Buffalo Bills traded wide receiver Lee Evans to the Baltimore Ravens. From this trade, the Bills will receive a fourth-round draft pick in the 2012 NFL Draft.
Evans, who was drafted in 2004, had multiple 1,000 plus yard seasons for the Bills. Besides kicker Rian Lindell, Evans was the longest-serving active Bills player.
Throughout the week, trade rumors had been circulating. On Thursday, Evans addressed the rumors, saying, “It’s not a whole lot I can focus on because I have no control. My main goal is to do everything in my power to help this team win. That’s what my focus is more so than anything. At the end of the day, all my teammates know what I can do, who I am and they respect me for that. They know they can trust me, they know they can believe in me, so that goes a long way.”
Unfortunately for Evans, and the rest of his Buffalo team, the rumors turned out to be true. After the trade was announced, past and present Bills players unleashed their feelings on Twitter.
“I’m not mad at the trade. I’m mad because this will change how defenses play us now,” tweeted cornerback Drayton Florence, while Andre Reed tweeted, “Disappointed that the Bills have traded Lee Evans to the Ravens. Great player, but even a better person.”
While Evans’ former teammates and the media continue to question the trade, Evans seems at peace with the trade, saying today, “I want to say thank you to Mr. Wilson and the Bills organization for everything over the last 7 years. To the great fans who make Buffalo special, thanks for always supporting me and my family. I’ll always have ties to the Buffalo community as I’ve met a lot of great people who will remain friends.”
The Bills will move forward without Evans, relying on their strong core of recievers: Roscoe Parrish, Stevie Johnson, Marcus Easley, Paul Hubbard, Felton Huggins, Craig Davis, Donald Jones, and David Nelson (who often plays as a tight end), while Evans will join a Baltimore team that is trying to rebuild.
While the trade may be a surprise to many, it will benefit both Buffalo and Baltimore as they look to move forward into successful seasons.
Wow – Sounds like a great move for Baltimore to keep surrounding Flacco with an athletic receiving core. Who is their TE? I saw that Heap is on another roster (I may be way behind on that, but Heap was the last TE I could think of in Baltimore and he seemed to be a reliable target).
I’m thinking the Bills could have at least gotten a 2nd round pick in return. Oh wait. No. That means they would have to trade within the division. Don’ t the Pats have everyone’s 2nd round picks for the next to years? 🙂
Say Breanna, how far ahead do the Bills have to look for that successful season? And is that something that should be measured in dog years?
Good one, Bill.
I think the Bills will be a lot more successful this year than the have been in the past few years.
Chan Gailey really seems to have it together, and after spending a lot of time at training camp, I can tell that they have made a lot of improvements.
But I guess we’ll just have to see once the season starts. And, I’m gonna go out on a limb here, but I think the Bills may be this year’s Superbowl champs 😉
Good article. I think the Bills may win 6 games this year. They’re building, but it is going to take time. Besides, the Packers probably have the next 5 or 6 SB’s covered
Let’s bear in mind that Evans’ production has gone down the last 2 years. Breanna, you saw Evans in camp – how did he look?
The Bills might be looking at this as 2-3 year process to get this team where they want it, get Andrew Luck and possibly ownership changing hands.
The main problem with the Bills and it will continue is that a 94+ year old man, Mr. Burns.. I mean Ralph Wilson still controls the Bills. I don’t see this team turning around until ownership of this time is pried from his fingers.
Evans’ numbers have gone down but who were his quaterbacks? Props to Smitty with a “Simpsons” reference that is actually accurate as heck.
6. thats the magic number and will continue to be until its proven inaccurate
Though I don’t follow the Bills too closely, I’d agree with Smitty about Wilson, because as we all know what goes downhill, and I say there’s a Depends with a lot of leakage. The coaching has been mired in mediocrity for a long time, wishy washy, no clear direction (well, at least in my view, but like I said, I don’t follow too close). Worst example wasn’t the acquisition of TO, but the failure to throw the ball to him. Well, that or not using the hurry up offense on a regular basis. or . . .
LOL 🙂 Double helmet sticker to Bill !!!
Wally, it would be funnier if it weren’t true. I remember talking to my neighbor, a Bills fan, about To, and how the quarterback at the time would never look in his direction. Then when he got injured, and the backup went in, he threw a bunch to TO. When regular QB returned, same thing. I suppose it’d be like having a brand new 6 foot HDTV in your room, but listening to the game on the radio, or trying to watch the game on the dishwasher.
Bill – and that is why Trent Edwards is barely holding on to a back up job in the NFL. He locked in on his receivers and it was why he held on to the ball way too often.
Evans looked pretty good in camp, but I can certainly see why they decided to trade him. Looking forward to the future, with his production slowly decreasing, he definitely would not have been as great of an asset to the team as he was in the past.
And I completely agree with all the comments about the ownership. Ralph Wilson is up there in years (way up there) and I think it’s hard for things to stay current and progressive when you have someone in charge that is that old.
However, I think the GM, Buddy Nix, and head coach Chan Gailey, are doing a great job of moving the team in a positive direction. Being at camp and seeing the new talent up close is crazy; they’ve acquired a ton of guys that are going to be superstars in the years to come.
And as for Trent Edwards (I must admit he was always my favorite, and besides that he is a super nice guy), this stint with the Raiders may prove to be good for him. With Bruce Gradkowski going to the Bengals, I think it may open up an opportunity for Edwards to earn back a starting job. Although, let’s face it, he’s just not as good as he was when he was at Stanford, and even then he was injured a lot. He just hasn’t been the same since he had a concussion vs. Arizona over two years ago.