So last March, credible Dianna Russini, now of TheAthletic.com, claimed there were eight teams hoping to make a run at Mike Evans and win him over if he hit free agency.

They were the “Titans, Rams, Chiefs, Patriots, Giants, Panthers, Falcons, and Jaguars,” she wrote.

Joe saw that at the time and wasn’t surprised. There was a lot of buzz about Evans being hunted in Kansas City.

But now there are more logs on the Rams fire as time has passed and more truths come out.

Well connected Albert Breer of SI.com wrote this week that Evans set the take-less-to-stay-in-Tampa standard for receivers last year, one that Chris Godwin embraced a few weeks ago.

“My understanding is that the blank check team [for Godwin] was the Patriots, and it wasn’t the first time the Bucs had gotten such affirmation from a star receiver,” Breer wrote. “Last year, in fact, Mike Evans agreed to a two-year, $41 million deal to stay in Tampa after the Rams upped the ante and went past where the Buccaneers were financially.

Breer went on to claim “Chris Godwin’s decision to stay in Tampa shows Tom Brady’s lasting impact on that place.” Joe can’t go that far when it comes to Godwin turning down bigger money. Calm down, Albert.

Joe’s just glad the Rams seem to have given up on their Mike Evans dreams after signing Davante Adams to a two-year deal this month. And yes, he got more money than Evans did.

Big Mike is now in the final year of his contract.