For the last few months Tampa Bay Buccaneers fans have been pouring over who the team might end up taking in the NFL Draft this weekend. What was sort of lost in the shuffle was forgetting to worry about who other teams in the NFC South might add to make the Bucs' life difficult.
That's something the Carolina Panthers did in the first round on Thursday night.
Carolina took Arizona star wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan, something that is already annoying on a few different levels. On the one hand it gives Dave Canales a big time weapon to help develop Bryce Young, but the rookie has barely been in the NFL and he's already getting compared to a Buccaneers legend.
Panthers rookie Tetairoa McMillan is already being compared to Mike Evans
Right before the Panthers took McMillan with the No. 8 overall pick, CBS Sports' Jonathan Jones essentially tipped the pick by drawing a comparrison to Mike Evans.
I don't tip picks but clearly Carolina has seen a lot of Mike Evans over the years
— Jonathan Jones (@jjones9) April 25, 2025
Jones isn't the only one who is drawing a connection between McMillan and Evans. All draft season long, he's been getting compared to Evans, including his former head coach at Arizona, straight up drawing a line between the two.
Based on his tape in college it's not hard to see why McMillan is getting such high praise, but that makes it even more annoying that he's landed in the NFC South.
There's a level of disrepect toward Evans that can't be ignored -- McMillan is great but pump the brakes on the Hall of Fame comps -- but it's the more tangible problem he creates that everyone should be worried about.
Tampa Bay's secondary is already a mess, with Zyon McCollum and Jamel Dean not having much depth behind them. That makes the addition of a talent like McMillan to the division pretty worrisome, as it means the Panthers are about to get a lot better than they were.
More Tampa Bay Buccaneers news and rumors