Just a few days ago, we told you that teams were "sniffing around" Buffalo Bills wide receiver Lee Evans based on an article by the National Football Post's Dan Pompei. Today, Mike Jurecki of XTRA Sports 910 in Phoenix is saying that the Arizona Cardinals belong to one of the sets of nostrils catching a whiff of Evans.
Trading Evans to get value is probably a few years too late. He had the worst season of his career a year ago and missed the last three games of the season on injured reserve. He had only 37 receptions and turned 30 years old this off-season.
It's not out of the question that the Bills could move him simply to make room on their roster. Former ESPN AFC East blogger and current Buffalo News reporter Tim Graham told WGR 550 in Buffalo today that a source close to the situation said the Bills may outright release Evans at the end of training camp based on a conversation from a year ago. With his age and $3.28M price tag in 2011, the Bills could be looking to part ways with the former first-round pick in an attempt to let their talented wide receiver depth develop.
Stevie Johnson and David Nelson emerged last year, and Roscoe Parrish was well on his way to a career year before falling to injury. Donald Jones and Naaman Roosevelt also looked promising in limited time and with the addition of Buster Davis and the (hopeful) return of Marcus Easley, the Bills could just be looking at the numbers game.
For those of you whose wheels are already churning, Brandon Marshall netted the Denver Broncos two second round picks a year ago after posting a Pro Bowl season. Anquan Boldin returned a third and fourth round picks to the Cardinals when he was traded to the Baltimore Ravens. Evans would not command nearly that much in return from the Cardinals. A mid- to late-round pick is all the team would get in return - but if the plan is to cut him, that's better than nothing.