Buffalo Bills Trade Lee Evans

Lee Evans, 30, was traded yesterday to the Baltimore Ravens for a 4th round pick in the 2012 draft. Evans was one of the veterans on this young Bills team. Initially the reaction was not good for the Bills. Drayton Florence tweeted the following:

DraytonFlorence: Wtf

DraytonFlorence: If I knew that was gonna happen.....?

DraytonFlorence: Wtf wtf wtf

The second tweet seems to imply he would have signed elsewhere had he known we were giving away important parts of the team. And then Drayton retweeted the following comment from a fan:

cwink1: @DraytonFlorence summing it up well.. Sorry you're stuck here.. think of the bright side, have a big year and we'll trade you to a contender

Followed by:

Biblebasher666: @DraytonFlorence MAKES NO SENSE! Are we trying to win?Seriously...

And then Drayton fired off a few more tweets of his own:

DraytonFlorence: Are we trying to win now or later????#wtfnoworlater

DraytonFlorence: Sad day for the #bills

DraytonFlorence: Why so stupid

DraytonFlorence: I'm not mad at the trade I'm mad because this will change how defenses play us now

That last tweet seems to backtrack a bit. There's no doubt Drayton was upset about the move. Those retweets are obviously telling. Given the ability to retweet a fan is a new voice for today's athlete. Fred Jackson also seemed upset by the move. Most of the young guys like CJ Spiller, AJ Williams and David Nelson didn't seem as hurt by the move and wished Evans well in Baltimore. The reality is, the younger guys like Donald Jones, David Nelson, Naaman Roosevelt, and Marcus Easley will benefit the most from this move.

Surprisingly quiet was the most vocal guy on the team, Stevie Johnson. Johnson and George Wilson had shown some support for Evans when the rumors began. Johnson outwardly questioned the possibility of the move, calling Evans a team leader. I find it suspicious that he didn't have anything to say about it yesterday.

Stevie's first tweet on the matter was:

StevieJohnson13: ...iKno We All was like wtf! Huhh?!.... but FXCK IT THO! @Scoe11 @DaJones19 @DavidNelson86 @Nyce18 #SJ13 #BILLS #GoooooonSquaaaaad

Donald Jones chimed in on the matter this morning when he retweets Stevie says and then follows it up with his own words ("gotta put da team on yo baaacckk thooo"):

DaJones19: RT @StevieJohnson13 GMorning World... FuhhWitMeee Wutupthoo..>>gotta put da team on yo baaacckk thooo

Stevie responded with:

StevieJohnson13: @Dajones19 haha Word!

Fans were outraged that we gave up our perceived #1 receiver (it could be argued Stevie Johnson was slated for that role from the beginning of camp even though he often referred to Lee as "the guy") for a 4th round pick. A 3rd round pick may have been acceptable to most Bills fan but not a 4th round pick. The argument is finding a quality player for a 4th round pick is hard to find, especially with the Bills draft track record.

Here's a list of past Bills 4th round picks:

2011: Chris Hairston (RT)
2011: Da'Norris Seacy (S)
2010: Marcus Easley (WR)
2009: Shawn Nelson (TE)
2008: Reggie Corner (CB)
2008: Derek Fine (TE - No longer on team)
2007: Dwayne Right (RB - No longer on team)
2006: Ko Simpson (S - No longer on team and clearly not worth millions)
2005: Duke Preston (C - No longer on team)
2004: Tim Euhus (TE - No longer on team)

Finding a good player in the 4th round isn't easy. The jury is still out on Easley (who they have high hopes for), Searcy (who they hope will become a starter in the secondary very soon) and Hairston (more of a project RT). Shawn Nelson has been riddled with injuries and can't stay on the field. The word potential has been used with him and Easley a lot lately but the fact is, with some of the tight ends they've brought into camp who have performed well, Nelson may have a hard time making the team. Reggie Corner has had a pretty good training camp so far so it's not out of realm of possibility that he makes the team but up until this point, his career as a Bill has been forgettable.

According to the team, they wanted a 3rd round pick but ultimately settled with a 4th rounder from Baltimore which will likely end up being a late 4th round pick because of how good the Ravens are. There were rumors floating around that the Bills wanted a player included in the deal.

Evans is coming off his worst season with the Bills - 37 receptions for 578 yards and 4 Touchdowns. Numbers that can easily be replaced. Roscoe Parrish was well on his way to crushing those numbers before an injury curtailed his season. But the numbers aren't the issue for Bills fans. Most believed he freed up Stevie Johnson on the other side, who had a really good year eclipsing 1,000 yards receiving and 10 touchdowns.

In 2010 when Terrell Owens signed with the Bills, most believed that Lee Evans would have a breakout year opposite of Owens. He only had 44 receptions for 612 yards and 7 touchdowns.

Lee has only eclipsed 1,000 yards receiving twice in his career, in 2006 and 2008.

Lee finally gets to answer the question - with a reliable quarterback, can he be that explosive receiver he resembled in 2006 and 2008? He'll be opposite of Anquan Boldin with Joe Flacco as his quarterback in Baltimore. Many believe he's been the victim of not having a good quarterback and the constant switching of coaches, offensive coordinators and general managers throughout his tenure in Buffalo.

Ultimately I believe it was a numbers game in Buffalo. Buddy Nix and Chan Gailey want their young guys in this year. Donald Jones, who the coaching staff absolutely loves, will likely benefit the most. Roscoe Parrish, who was having the best season of his career prior to injuring himself will also get a ton of time on the field. David Nelson, who Darryl Talley said "has all the tools needed 2 emerge as a team leader & make the Pro Bowl within the next 2 years." Nelson is a guy who came on big last year as one of Fitzpatrick's go to guys. They have high hopes for Nelson.

And then you have interesting guys like Naaman Roosevelt, who has caught everything in camp and made a good case for himself to remain on the team, Marcus Easley, who is a big receiver with plenty of speed that they drafted last year with big expectations, and Craig "Buster" Davis, a guy they've given a good, long hard look at this past week in camp. Davis is a former first round pick with the Chargers who has been riddled with injuries the past few years and hasn't lived up to expectations in San Diego.

It appears the Bills want a lot of guys involved in the offense, which will feature a lot of quick dump-offs, screen plays, Brad Smith Wildcat, and plenty of spread offense. Lee was the odd man out.

With Fred Jackson entrenched as the starting running back, CJ Spiller will be a guy who is looking to bounce back from a disappointing rookie season. What his role is, especially with kickoffs being less important because of the new rules, is unknown but it's likely he'll be the guy on the screen plays, draws, and lining up as a receiver at times. Then you have the Brad Smith factor. He's expected to get anywhere from 4 to 14 plays a game.

One of Ryan Fitzpatrick's strengths as a quarterback isn't the deep ball which eliminates the need for Lee Evans.  Whether this is the real reason the Bills got rid of Evans is something that will be debated on message boards for some time. A lot of Bills fans believe this is strictly a financial move but the reality is Lee Evans was going to make in the 3 to 4 million dollar range this year, which is hardly much for a #1 type receiver.

All along Buddy Nix has been saying he wants to get his young guys on the field . The Bills strongest position depth wise was considered the Wide Receiver position. Getting rid of Evans gives them the chance to give Easley, Roosevelt and Davis a closer look. Kamar Aiken, from Central Florida, is also another guy who's been having a really good camp.

Despite all of this, the question remains - why trade Lee Evans now? Evans has 2 years left on his deal. Did the coaching staff really believe his best years were behind him or was it a case of not needing him in Chan Gailey's offense?  Either way, this didn't sit well with the locker room initially, but the Bills have the benefit of having a lot of young players who won't care as much about it compared to a team full of veterans who would likely ask, "What kind of message does this send to other players on this team?"

This is something that will be forgotten quickly if the offense exceeds expectations this year. If it doesn't, you can bet Bills fans will question Buddy Nix and whether he's capable of running this team. I personally want to see how the season plays out - with Evans in Baltimore and how our offense performs this season. With so many playmakers on this team, I believe the potential is there to still have a very good offense this year. That's if the offensive line (the biggest question mark on this team) holds up.