Who Should I Start? Alexander Mattison or Mike Evans

Monday, March 18, 6:02 PM

Former Minnesota Vikings running back Alexander Mattison is signing an undisclosed deal with the Las Vegas Raiders on Monday, according to a source. Mattison is still only 25 years old and recorded 17 touchdowns in his five seasons in Minnesota after they took him in the third round in the 2019 draft out of Boise State. The 25-year-old was a disappointment in 2023 while taking over the lead-back role from Dalvin Cook, though, which is why Mattison was released this offseason. In 16 games (13 starts) last year, Mattison had a career-high 180 carries for 700 yards (3.9 yards per carry) and no rushing touchdowns while adding 30 catches for 192 yards and three touchdowns. Josh Jacobs is no longer in Vegas, but Mattison figures to work in a timeshare with Zamir White in his first year in Sin City in 2024.

Monday, March 4, 2:02 PM

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and five-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Mike Evans agreed to a two-year, $52 million deal on Monday that includes $35 million guaranteed, according to his agent Deryk Gilmore. Evans now has a real chance to start and finish his career in Tampa. Evans hasn't really slowed down at all entering his age-31 season this fall, as he has yet to finish any one of his 10 seasons in the NFL with the Bucs under 1,000 yards receiving. He made his fifth Pro Bowl in 2023 and finished with 79 receptions (136 targets) for 1255 yards and a league-leading 13 touchdowns in 17 regular-season games to help quarterback Baker Mayfield to the best season of his career. While Evans is likely to regress in the TD department in 2024, there's no reason to believe he'll finish under 1,000 receiving yards as long as he stays healthy, especially if Tampa also re-signs Mayfield.