Florida Sentinel Bulletin

Mike Evans

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and five-time Pro Bowl receiver Mike Evans reached agreement on a two-year, $52 million contract that includes $35 million guaranteed, his agent, Deryk Gilmore, told ESPN on Monday.

Evans, who was to enter free agency next week, now has a real chance to start and finish his career as a “Buc for life” in Tampa.

Gilmore said the deal, which averages $26 million per season, is the largest for a wide receiver this old on his third contract. It is a front-loaded contract, with $29 million of the $44 million base value due at signing.

“Fire Them Cannons!” Evans posted to Instagram on Monday.

Charles Barkley

Charles Barkley didn’t mince his words when responding to Donald Trump’s latest commentary on Black people.

In a conversation with Gayle King, Barkley responded to remarks Trump made last week in South Carolina, just before winning the Republican primary. The ex-president suggested that Black people have taken a liking to him after getting arrested for attempting to overturn the 2020 presidential results in Georgia.

“When I did the mug shot in Atlanta, that mug shot is No. 1,” Trump said at the Black Conservative Federation’s annual Honors Gala. “You know who embraced it more than anyone else? The Black population.”

Twitter: @awfulannouncing

Barkley had a biting response for Trump. “First of all, I’m just gonna say this: if I see a Black person walking around with Trump’s mugshot, I’m [gonna] punch him in the face,” the NBA legend said.

When King pointed out that Barkley would get arrested for assault, he said, “I will bail myself out and go celebrate,” he said to laughter. “If I was at that conference I would have got up and walked out. That was an insult to all Black people.”

He continued, “To compare Black history, when we’ve been discriminated against, to his plight—first of all, he’s a billionaire, and they’re prosecuting him for stuff he did wrong. … Well, some of the stuff is true. They did storm the Capitol, they did say that the election was stolen. Those aren’t lies, Gayle.”

“He’s had a great life. He’s been President of the United States. To insult Black people who have been discriminated against all these years, to put them in the same category.” He added, “I was just offended.”

Chris Mortensen

Chris Mortensen, an award-winning journalist who reported on the NFL for ESPN for more than three decades, died Sunday morning at the age of 72, his family announced.

Mortensen joined ESPN in 1991 and was a regular contributor to the network’s NFL shows and “SportsCenter.” He was a regular news breaker for ESPN, including the news in 2016 that quarterback Peyton Manning was retiring from the NFL.

In 2016, he received the Pro Football Writers of America’s Dick McCann Award and was honored during the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s enshrinement ceremony in August that year.

Mortensen, who was diagnosed with Stage 4 throat cancer in January 2016, stepped away from his role at ESPN last year “to focus on my health, family and faith,” he said.

Mike Evans and Baker Mayfield

The Buccaneers have three of the Top 15 players on PFT’s list of the 100 best free agents in the NFL: Antoine Winfield is No. 7, Mike Evans is No. 11 and Baker Mayfield is No. 15. The Bucs appear ready to keep Winfield by using the franchise tag, but they don’t want to see Evans or Mayfield go, either.

Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles said today on NFL Network that both Mayfield and Evans are players the Bucs want to keep.

“It’s an extremely high priority, obviously,” Bowles said of keeping Mayfield. “We love Baker. Baker had a heck of a year. He fit right in with us all the way around. The chemistry was outstanding with him and all the receivers and the offense as a whole, so we hope to build on that. I understand the business side of it. Like I said, we like Bake and we hope things get worked out.”

Evans will turn 31 in August, but Bowles doesn’t think he’s slowing down.

“He had a career year last year,” Bowles said of Evans. “He’s been doing it for a decade now and obviously we want him to retire as a Buc and everything we’re trying to do, putting all our resources into signing him back as well because Mike is great for the community, he’s great for the team, he’s great for the guys and he’s a heck of a ball player.”

USF Men’s Basketball Team

TAMPA, Fla. ( — The University of South Florida men’s basketball team continues to make history as they advanced their win streak to 13 games after defeating Southern Methodist University Sunday night.

With USF’s 79-68 victory over SMU, the Bulls now hold the second-longest active winning streak in the NCAA. The 13-game win streak is also the longest in program history, surpassing the 12-game streak set during the 1980-81 season.

“We’ve been good for weeks and even months,” said Tyler Moss, a senior at USF. “We knew this was going to be a really special year for us. Getting national recognition is really important.”

As if the team couldn’t keep reaching milestones, on Monday, the basketball team cracked the Associated Press’ Top 25 Men’s College Basketball Poll at No. 25, marking the first time in program history that the Bulls reached the Top 25. The Bulls play Charlotte Saturday and Tulane Tues at 7p.m.

Ryan Clark with his wife, Yonka

After an outspoken negotiation period where NFL analyst Ryan Clark threatened to leave ESPN, he has verbally agreed to remain at the network, sources briefed on the deal said.

Clark’s previous contract ran out days before the Super Bowl, but the two sides agreed to extend it through the big game and Clark appeared on “SportsCenter” with Scott Van Pelt that night.

ESPN is expected to announce the new deal soon. The network declined comment.

The signing of extensions is generally mundane, but Clark made his displeasure with ESPN’s offer public.

Three days after the Super Bowl, Clark tweeted, “3 years ago I signed an extension with ESPN. I was so grateful for more time. I (was) excited to prove I was worth more, felt I deserved more. We disagreed, & that’s ok. I set out on a mission to leave no doubt, end all conversations about my who I was in this business. …

“The season is over. The deal is up. Time to make a decision. Either way it goes. The mission don’t change. I want to be the best doing it. Everyone should. I’m more motivated today than ever. I’m still the same #UndraftedFreeAgent !”

Eric Bieniemy

Former Washington Commanders offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy is finalizing a two-year deal to join UCLA‘s staff as the Bruins’ associate head coach/offensive coordinator, sources told ESPN on Saturday night.

The move marks a significant hire for new UCLA coach DeShaun Foster, who intends to forge an NFL identity with the Bruins. It also marks a homecoming for Bieniemy, who grew up in the area and was a Bruins assistant from 2003 to 2005.

“Southern California,” Bieniemy wrote in an email Saturday. “I attended high school there. I started my career in the league here [with the Chargers]. It’s obviously great to be back with the Bruins, where I was previously employed.”

Former Washington Commanders offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy is finalizing a two-year deal to join UCLA‘s staff as the Bruins’ associate head coach/offensive coordinator, sources told ESPN on Saturday night.

The move marks a significant hire for new UCLA coach DeShaun Foster, who intends to forge an NFL identity with the Bruins. It also marks a homecoming for Bieniemy, who grew up in the area and was a Bruins assistant from 2003 to 2005.

“Southern California,” Bieniemy wrote in an email Saturday. “I attended high school there. I started my career in the league here [with the Chargers]. It’s obviously great to be back with the Bruins, where I was previously employed.”

Mike Evans

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have somewhat of a soft deadline for both Mike Evans and Baker Mayfield’s contract extensions on Monday, but at least one of those players won’t be getting a deal done, it would seem.

Bleacher Report NFL insider Jordan Schultz tweeted on Monday that Evans and the Bucs are “far apart” on a new deal. Should Evans and the Bucs have reached one on Monday, his $7.4 million in dead cap could have been pushed forward, but barring a restructure after a new deal, the Bucs are set to take all of it in 2024.

While this may spell doom and gloom for some Tampa Bay fans, Evans hitting the market was always to be expected. Evans would be a fool not to see where other teams evaluate him, and teams like the Houston Texans or the Kansas City Chiefs could potentially be suitors for him on the open market. The Bucs are welcome to match or get near the offers he is expected to get.