Thursday, July 11, 2002

ProFootballWeekly.com asks personnel expert Joel Buchsbaum for his thoughts on the hottest topics in football. 

Bengals increase pursuit of DT Adams

After creating ample salary-cap space from the release of WR Darnay Scott, the Bengals have increased their pursuit of former Ravens DT Sam Adams. Adams has received interest from a number of teams in free agency but is believed to have a steep price tag that has kept him from signing.

Buchsbaum: One of the all-time mercenaries, Sam Adams, who is trying to get more money from a contending team, is not talking to the Cincinnati Bengals, who still have plenty of money left to spend. If no contender will up the ante and Cincinnati will, don’t be surprised if Adams goes with the bottom line and goes to the Bengals. He’s a very gifted player and a very lazy player with a propensity to get fat and he is more likely to get fat when he has nothing to play for than he is if he is motivated and playing for a contract next year.

WR Evans hopes to return for Big Ten opener

Lee Evans, the Big Ten's leading receiver last year, will likely miss the first five games of Wisconsin's season while trying to rehabilitate a knee injury he suffered in spring practice. Evans said Wednesday he was happy with his progress after tearing ligaments in his left knee in April and would like to be back by the Aug. 23 season opener against Fresno State in the John Thompson Foundation Football Classic. But he said a more realistic goal is the Badgers' first Big Ten game Oct. 5 against Penn State, meaning he would miss almost half the regular season. Being ready for that game would mean a return to football less than five months after having surgery in May for an injury that often takes 6-to-8 months of rehabilitation. The injury came just three months after Evans announced he would stay at Wisconsin for his senior season rather than turn pro. He was one of three finalists for the 2001 Biletnikoff Award for receivers after catching 75 passes for a conference-record 1,545 yards and nine touchdowns last season.

Buchsbaum: Evans, coming off a torn ACL injury suffered in April, indicated that he would like to be back for the start of not the regular season but the Big Ten season in the fifth game of the year against Penn State. This seems like a very opportunistic approach for Evans, who is still in the process of rehabbing a torn knee. I think it is premature for Evans, who might be much better served by sitting out this year as a redshirt and coming back the following year. He suffered a major ACL knee injury that required major surgery in May, and very few players are the same the first year back from major knee surgery.

The Archives
2001 - 2002 Season