Losman seen as Bledsoe's heir apparent

Updated: July 31, 2004, 2:01 PM ET

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By Len Pasquarelli
ESPN.com
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PITTSFIELD, N.Y. -- Wide receiver Lee Evans and quarterback J.P. Losman, the heir apparent to Drew Bledsoe in Buffalo, reached contract agreements with the Bills on Saturday, ensuring that both rookies will be in camp on Sunday.

Losman was the second of the Bills' two choices in the first round of the 2004 draft, and Buffalo had to trade up into Dallas' spot at No. 22, sacrificing their first-round pick in '05, to get him.

Buffalo chose wide receiver Lee Evans, from Wisconsin, with their own pick in the first round, the 13th overall selection. Terms of Evans' deal were not immediately available.

General manager Tom Donahoe, who remains unafraid to make bold moves even in the face of occasional criticism, obviously feels Losman represents the team's future.

The contract is for five years and has a base value of $7.7 million, with $5.586 million of that in guarantees, largely an initial signing bonus and two option bonuses. The contract can top out, with escalators, at $24.58 million.

Negotiated by Gary Wichard, the deal in many ways is superior to those signed by Kyle Boller and Rex Grossman, quarterbacks chosen in the 2003 draft. It is a sizeable jump over the deal awarded Grossman, who was in the 22nd slot last year.

Losman, 23, was the fourth quarterback chosen in the first round this year, behind Eli Manning, Philip Rivers and Ben Roethlisberger, but there are some scouts who felt that he was every bit as good as those prospects, and even superior in some areas. Certainly he is the best pure athlete of the group, and had to be, playing behind a suspect offensive line in college.

A natural leader, whose passion for the game is sometimes misread as petulance, Losman has impressed Buffalo officials this spring by spending even more time in the complex than was required of him. A self-styled "gym rat," Losman is expected to serve a one- or two-year apprenticeship behind incumbent Bledsoe, before assuming the No. 1 role.

At Tulane, he succeeded former Washington Redskins first-rounder Patrick Ramsey as the starter. He completed 570 of 987 passes for 6,754 yards, with 60 touchdown passes and 27 interceptions.

Evans set a career school record at Wisconsin with 175 catches for 3,468 yards and 26 touchdowns, while averaging 19.92 yards a reception -- second only to Tony Simmons.

A native of suburban Cleveland, Evans spent five years with the Badgers but missed the 2002 season with a knee injury. Healthier last year, he led the Big Ten with 1,213 yards receiving and finished with 13 touchdowns in starting all 13 games.

Len Pasquarelli is a senior writer for ESPN.com. Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.