The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have had a great offseason — from bringing back key players to signing free agents to drafting a stellar batch of rookies in the 2024 NFL draft.
But their very best move? According to The Athletic’s Mike Sando, it was signing veteran wide receiver Mike Evans to a 2-year, $52 million contract.
“Keeping franchise icon Mike Evans on a short deal (two years) with a reasonable APY ($20.5 million, which ranks 15th among receivers) seems ideal,” Sando wrote. “Evans finished last season with his third-best single-season mark for yardage (1,255) and second-best for touchdown receptions (league-high 13). He is the only player in NFL history to reach 1,000 yards receiving in each of his first 10 seasons.
“It’s great when logic prevails in these situations.”
The Buccaneers bringing back Evans served more than one purpose — not only is he one of the NFL’s best wide receivers he’s also one of the most popular players in Buccaneers’ history.
Sometimes it’s important to give the people what they want.
Evans: Future Pro Football Hall of Famer
Evans has been one of the NFL’s best wide receivers since the Buccaneers drafted him out of Texas A&M with the No. 7 overall pick in the 2014 NFL draft.
What’s been incredible is not only his consistency throughout his career but, as Sando points out, his ability to have great seasons this late in his career — he’s gone over 1,100 yards each of his last two seasons.
Evans will turn 31 years old in August, which is an age most elite wide receivers are long past their prime. Not this one.
He currently has 11,680 receiving yards — No. 33 on the NFL’s career list — and would cruise into the Top 20 with two more 1,000 yards seasons.
Evans’ 94 career receiving touchdowns put him at No. 13 (oh, the irony) on the NFL’s career list headed into 2024 and he’s only 6 touchdowns away from breaking into the Top 10 and tying Steve Largent and Tim Brown with 100 career receiving touchdowns.
Whenver Evans does decide to end his illustrious career, he’ll almost certainly be the first wide receiver to go into the Pro Football Hall of Fame who spent the majority of his career with the Buccaneers — Brown played one season with Tampa Bay in 2004 but played the majority of his career with the Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders.
History of Lifting Quarterbacks to New Levels
When Tampa Bay quarterback Baker Mayfield signed a 3-year, $100 million contract to stay with the Buccaneers in March 2024, he owed a big debt of gratitude to Evans, who had as big of a part in resurrecting the former No. 1 overall pick’s career as anyone in the organization.
It’s not the first time Evans has taken a pretty average or below average quarterback and made them seem elite.
Going back to college, having Evans running downfield turned Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel into a Heisman Trophy winner and duped the Cleveland Browns into selecting him in the first round of the 2014 NFL draft — the same year the Bucs selected Evans.
Evans even made Jameis Winston, the No. 1 overall pick in 2015, look like a somewhat passable quarterback for five seasons, including leading the NFL with 5,109 passing yards in 2019 — the same season he led the NFL with 30 interceptions.
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