Dave

Canales

Bowen said Evans, a free agent, could follow Panthers head coach Dave Canales — Tampa’s OC in 2023 — to Carolina after he posted another excellent statistical season, with 1,255 receiving yards and a league-leading 13 touchdown receptions in Canales’ offense. The Panthers seem intent on upgrading one of the NFL’s worst wideout rooms this offseason. While Evans, 30, would profile as the team’s unquestioned No. 1 receiver, his fantasy prospects would be gashed by Bryce Young’s array of limitations. Look for Evans to stay in Tampa or engage in talks with a contender this offseason.

In his first year as an offensive coordinator with the Buccaneers, Canales helped lead the Bucs to a 9-8 record while guiding Baker Mayfield to a 4,044-28-10 season. Tampa Bay ranked 20th in points per game (20.5) and 23rd in yards per game (313.0), but that was enough to put him on Carolina’s radar. The Panthers were the only team to interview Canales during this coaching cycle, but an outside-the-box hire was somewhat expected from a team/owner that is now headed on its third coach in three seasons. Canales faces an uphill battle to improve a Panthers roster that went 2-15 while gifting the No.1 overall pick in this year’s draft to the Bears. Last year’s No. 1 overall pick, Bryce Young, already feels like somewhat of a reclamation after posting one of the worst rookie years in recent NFL history, but there’s a lot of work to be done on both sides of the ball.

Canales helped lead the Buccaneers to a 9-8 record and a postseason berth in their first year without Tom Brady. Former No. 1 overall pick turned journeyman quarterback Baker Mayfield threw for 4,044-28-10 in his first season with the Buccaneers, with his success serving as a highlight of Canales’ 2023 campaign. Canales hasn’t received a ton of head coaching interviews during this cycle, but a promising two-game stretch in the postseason could ignite further interest.

Canales joined the Buccaneers as offensive coordinator prior to the 2023 season after spending over a decade with the Seahawks. He was the passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach for Russell Wilson and Geno Smith before reviving Baker Mayfield on a playoff-bound Bucs team that just won their Wild Card game against the Eagles. Canales would be a quarterback-focused choice for the Panthers and their 2023 No. 1 pick, Bryce Young.

By almost every measure, the Bucs in 2022 had the league’s worst rushing attack, as Leonard Fournette -- who will probably be released in the coming weeks -- and Rachaad White were terribly inefficient as runners and pass catchers. Tampa Bay was dead last in expected points added (EPA) per rush, with the third worst rushing success rate. White ranked 61st in yards per carry after contact, below backs like Latavius Murray and Ezekiel Elliott. Pro Football Focus graded the Bucs’ run blocking as the eighth worst in 2022. Look for the post-Brady Bucs to be a hyper-conservative offense led by Kyle Trask or a journeyman veteran who will compete with Trask for the starting job. There won’t be much fantasy appeal among Bucs players as the team enters a multi-year rebuilding project.

Canales has spent the last 13 seasons in Seattle under Pete Carroll, serving as a wide receivers coach, passing game coordinator, and quarterbacks coach. His work with Geno Smith last season (4,282-30-11) was enough to earn Smith the AP Comeback Player of the Year Award, as he helped guide the Seahawks to a 9-8 record and playoff berth. With Tom Brady now retired, the Buccaneers likely saw added value in Canales’ ability to dial up offensive schemes and develop young quarterbacks. With several offensive weapons already in place, Canales and the Buccaneers have all offseason to figure out their quarterback as they prepare to compete in a down NFC South.

Canales had a second interview with the Ravens for their offensive coordinator job earlier this week and is now set to speak with the Bucs. Canales did the unexpected last season when he helped turn Geno Smith into one of the better quarterbacks in the NFC, as Smith emerged to throw for 4,282-30-11 in his first season as the Seahawks starter following the trade of Russell Wilson to Denver. With the Buccaneers likely in search of a new starter heading into 2023, Canales work with Smith could make him a valuable asset. Prior to being named the Seahawks’ quarterbacks coach, Canales served as the team’s passing game coordinator from 2020-2021.

Canales will do an in-person interview after conducting his first interview via Zoom, per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler. Canales in 2022 led a quarterbacks room headed by Geno Smith, who had a career year, throwing 30 touchdowns and 11 interceptions while leading the NFL in completion rate. It looks like the Ravens offensive coordinator opening will be filled by Canales or Georgia OC Todd Monken, who also got a second interview with Baltimore. Whoever lands the job will likely install a more traditional passing offense than the one Greg Roman operated for the past four years.

Monken shapes up as the lead candidate to lead Baltimore’s offense after the Ravens parted ways with Greg Roman in January. An NFL offensive coordinator for three seasons, Monken has rehabbed his value with back-to-back titles for Georgia after leaving the Browns in 2019. Cleveland was 21st in EPA per play in 2019 with Baker Mayfield at the helm. Monken has also interviewed for the Bucs OC opening -- a job that became far less appealing when Tom Brady retired on Monday. The Ravens are also giving a second interview to Seahawks quarterbacks coach Dave Canales. Assuming Lamar Jackson re-signs with the Ravens, the Baltimore OC gig will be among the most sought-after jobs in the league this offseason.

Although he is only 41 years old, Canales has been on Pete Carroll’s staff going back to his days at USC. Elevated to QBs coach only in 2022, Canales is getting some credit for Geno Smith’s surprising revival campaign. Coming from Carroll’s coaching tree, Canales would undoubtedly be comfortable with the Ravens’ traditionally balanced offensive approach.