Who Should I Start? JuJu Smith-Schuster or Mike Evans

Thursday, May 2, 2:33 PM

Starting next month, the New England Patriots could cut wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster at a cost of $9.6 million in dead money and no salary cap relief, per Over the Cap, while releasing him before then would incur $2.6 million more in dead money and take a small chunk out of their league-leading $54 million cap room. If the Pats traded Smith-Schuster after June 1, they'd save almost $7 million in cap space and clear room for their young receivers to see more playing time. New England could prioritize playing time for rookies Ja'Lynn Polk and Javon Baker, plus 2023 sixth-rounder Demario Douglas. It all means that Smith-Schuster may no longer be the team's No. 2 receiver, especially with Kendrick Bourne and K.J. Osborn also on the roster.

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.