The Tampa Bay Buccaneers letting Mike Evans leave in free agency might not just haunt them this year. It might haunt them for the foreseeable future. Eva Geitheim of Sports Illustrated went through the one thing that will haunt every team, and the choice for the Buccaneers was losing Evans.
However, the reasoning is less about losing Evans for next year. It was more about letting one of the all-time greats in the franchise’s history leave.
“His reasoning for wanting out of Tampa isn’t fully clear, but if there were anything the Buccaneers could have done to make him happier, they’d certainly be kicking themselves that they weren’t able to get it done for one of the greatest players in franchise history,” wrote Geitheim.
The Bucs had a chance to ensure Evans was on the team for the entirety of his NFL career, but now that will never be the case.
Mike Evans Left the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Getty(Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)
As Geitheim notes, for as much as the Bucs did not sign Evans, he did not show serious interest in re-signing with the team. Evans left despite rumors that similar money was on the table for him to stay.
Evans noted playing for the San Francisco 49ers, Kyle Shanahan, and a team that has a chance to win the Super Bowl every year as reasons for leaving Tampa Bay.
So, for as much as the Bucs likely wanted him to return, they would have had a hard time keeping him. The only thing they could have done is try to reset the roster, or hire a big-name head coach. Still, that brought instability, and still might have wasted a year of Evans competing for the highest prize. The Bucs’ timeline and Evans just did not match.
It is unfortunate, and some Bucs fans will lament it for years. However, there is not much the Bucs could have done differently.
Bucs Keeping Todd Bowles Might Haunt the Franchise
The other potential choice for this designation would have been keeping the head coach. Bowles is entering the year on the hot seat, and there is a feeling that he is a lame duck head coach. So, while the team shuffled the roster a bit, the optimism is tempered, and things do not feel different in Tampa Bay.
The odds are that Bowles will get them through the year, but they will not meet the team’s goals. So, they will get rid of Bowles and hire a new coach next year. The coach’s first year will see transition and will waste the prime of some players.
Tampa Bay could have bit the bullet this season and seen the transition come a bit sooner. They might not have signed as many free agents, but coming into 2026 with a younger and still competitive roster along with a first-year head coach might have been intriguing.
Bowles could prove everyone wrong and come out of this season more successful than many think. However, even Mike Evans appears to be betting against that.
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