Lifetime Deal For Mike Evans?
June 17th, 2023
So reports emerged today that Tristan Wirfs and Antoine Winfield, Jr. did the Bucs a favor and reworked their 2023 contracts to help Tampa Bay add/squeeze a few extra million in cap room for this season.
And there’s chatter that Mike Evans and the Bucs are each hungry to nail down a new contract for him this summer.
Evans is underpaid and could become a free agent after this season. He turns 30 in August and is the greatest receiver in team history with no signs of slowing.
It’s no surprise to Joe that Evans and the Bucs in active talks, per TampaBay.com. Why wouldn’t Evans be eager to stay?
He’s treated like a king in Tampa and has been here nine seasons. He’s also learned that patience can pay off (see 2020).
Joe hopes Evans and the Bucs are talking about a lifetime-type contract, meaning one that could end Evans’ career in Tampa. He has proven to take great care of his body, and he’s versatile.
Evans can make all kinds of short- and mid-range contested catches, and Joe easily could see Evans successfully transitioning from beastly deep threat to more of a possession receiver later in his career.
Also, the longer Evans’ contract is, the more salary cap flexiblity the Bucs would have in future seasons.
As for Wirfs and Winfield, Greg Auman of FOXSports.com reported that each fourth-year player converted to a $1 million contract for this season for cap purposes, and the rest of the cash due them became an instant signing bonus. That means they get a fat Team Glazer check now and the Bucs can spread out that combined $3 million or so on their salary cap over multiple years.
The Bucs may still need more cap room to sign all their 2023 draft picks, and certainly to have emergency money for a veteran if a signficant injury happens this summer.
June 17th, 2023 at 4:08 pm
Great player, great guy, great to have him as a Buccaneer.
June 17th, 2023 at 4:26 pm
Didn’t the need money for draft picks?
June 17th, 2023 at 4:28 pm
Will never regret buying his jersey. Will wear it with pride forever. Mike’s a true warrior and one of my favorite Bucs of all time.
June 17th, 2023 at 4:29 pm
No signs of slowing is a little strong in my opinion Joe. I love Evans he’s a consummate pro and a man’s man. But the track record of receivers 30 plus is really not that great. If they were not in such a wretched division I think he would have already been traded. At this point a third is probably the most you could get for him.
Evans is in great shape (and hasn’t had a significant knee issue) enhanced by an advanced commitment during the Tom Brady years when he worked with Alex Guerrero. Very reasonable to expect he has two more elite seasons in his body, but he should be able to contribute for a long time. Larry Fitzgerald was stout through age 35. … As for getting moderated (for what, 10 minutes?), that’s just how it goes. –Joe
June 17th, 2023 at 4:31 pm
Lifetime.
Amen Joe.
June 17th, 2023 at 4:47 pm
Yes!
A multi-year, million dollar contract!
A dollar a year for a million years…
June 17th, 2023 at 4:58 pm
3yrs 30mill
June 17th, 2023 at 5:01 pm
Moderation is necessary because some people cannot behave properly. It’s a small price we all must pay for boorish behavior by some.
Evans has shown zero signs of aging or slowing down. Sign him. Reward his stellar play and even greater commitment to the team and community.
June 17th, 2023 at 5:03 pm
Evans has potential to be a lifetime Buc barring injury. I hope he will see another Super Bowl aft The BOWLS CURSE is lifted next year. He is a playmaker.
June 17th, 2023 at 5:03 pm
MadMax Says:
June 17th, 2023 at 4:58 pm
3yrs 30mill
^^^^^^
Probably more than double that.
June 17th, 2023 at 5:09 pm
I’ve always assumed they were going to give Evans a new deal, because otherwise I’m not sure how they sign the rookies. Remember, the cap goes up bigly next year, and went up more than expected this year, and I assume the Bucs need to give him 3-years to get a deal done, while they’d probably prefer a 2-year extension. But 3-years $60m, something in that range, I’d guess – but will be announced as longer term and bigger money for cap purposes, since they’ll use void years to pad out the money.
June 17th, 2023 at 5:17 pm
As for how long Evans will be productive … to me he’s always been an elite version of Vincent Jackson, and VJ was productive through age 31, then was still good at 32 but started to get injured, then at age 33 was showing signs of getting old. Obviously Evans is a tier up from VJ – so I think you can probably, safely, add a year to those numbers, which means you’d expect him to be elite until 32, and still be a good productive player at 33. That’s why a 3-year deal would still work for the Bucs, while Evans might not be elite that last year, I think he’d still be a very good WR, and by that time Godwin should be at the top of his game, so you wouldn’t need Mike to be a #1 anyways.
June 17th, 2023 at 5:20 pm
I hope Mike Evans can be a Buc for life…
They restructured Wirfs and Winfield so they could sign the remaining draft picks and give our GM a little more time to negotiate Mike’s new deal.
I believe it will be @ 3 years and $50M with $35M signing bonus.
If they leave enough room to sign Dalvin Cook or Zeke Elliot it would be a positive sign towards the Bucs winning the NFC South.
Kareem Hunt is my plan B.
June 17th, 2023 at 5:28 pm
HC Grover Says:
June 17th, 2023 at 5:03 pm
Evans has potential to be a lifetime Buc barring injury. I hope he will see another Super Bowl aft The BOWLS CURSE is lifted next year. He is a playmaker.
^^^^^^^
You do realize the Bucs won a Super Bowl with Bowles as the DC, right? Do you even follow or watch football?
June 17th, 2023 at 5:31 pm
Do it. Do it.
June 17th, 2023 at 5:37 pm
Evans underperformed last season, at times badly. Mentally checked out, gave up when he was most needed and the offense demanded a leader, especially with all of the other troubles, bad chemistry with Brady, Godwin not recovered etc. He has to prove it was an aberration. With a new regime and system, maybe he reverts to better form again, but between this and his age, a team-friendly deal or let him go.
June 17th, 2023 at 5:49 pm
I think all the rookies except Mauch are already signed.
June 17th, 2023 at 5:56 pm
If we can’t do anything with Evans we can always bring back Michael Clayton as a FA. At least we know nobody wants him.🤣 Maybe they could give him a second chance with the team but maybe bring him in as the janitor or the concession stand worker.
June 17th, 2023 at 6:01 pm
@steele… the team as a whole underperformed last season. “metally checked out, gave up when he was needed and the offense demanded a leader,”. Sure you are not referring to Brady?
Pretty bad, when our punter was the main overperformer for the year, we could get excited about. BYW… no knock on Jake, glad to have him onboard.
June 17th, 2023 at 6:09 pm
With the money teams have spend on a franchise QB the wide receiver money will go down. Evans and Godwin are over paid this year.
June 17th, 2023 at 6:17 pm
Mike was sent on a deep route every play. Due to the problems with the office of line and Brady being skittish, a deep throw could never materialize. So basically all Mike Evans was doing was wind sprints. No wonder he started slacking off.
June 17th, 2023 at 7:28 pm
They must have actually done the restructure deal a few days ago and just announced it today. They announced the signing of Kancey and Yaya a few days ago. I thought to myself at the time that they must have either restructured somebody or resigned Evans.
June 17th, 2023 at 7:34 pm
As far as that rampant moderation stuff goes, could you please tell us what less than obvious things trigger it so we don’t have have to be full of dread every time we hit the submit button.
We understand rules are necessary, but everybody should know what they are.
June 17th, 2023 at 8:36 pm
not see how its a favor to the team as the player gets that cash immediately
June 17th, 2023 at 10:25 pm
One of the things that, at least used to, trigger the filter is saying Warren Sapp. Lets see what happens.
June 17th, 2023 at 11:51 pm
Mike has had a great run, but what would be better for the team is that a young, cheap WR makes him expendable. Vet receivers with his numbers will be very, very expensive.
June 18th, 2023 at 12:16 am
View from 132 – yeah, who needs top tier WRs, what we really need are 6 versions of Scotty Miller out there! Great point!
June 18th, 2023 at 1:28 am
Only second-round pick OT Cody Mauch remains unsigned. They will restructure Evans or sign him long term because they need to get under the cap and have room to maneuver throughout the season. His contract will probably pay him one dollar over Godwin. something to signify he is 1A to Godwin’s 1B.
Remember when I used to be a huge deal and relief to get your first round pick signed? I suppose Bucs fans felt it most after the Bo Jackson pick but I remember going into many training camps without the top guy inked yet.
June 18th, 2023 at 7:27 am
Joe , every time I disagree with Chris from apple roof cleaning I get put in timeout or it never gets published is this because he is a sponsor?If that’s the case how do I donate?
June 18th, 2023 at 12:36 pm
ME 13 BUC 4 LIFE…. Get you some!
June 18th, 2023 at 4:44 pm
ME has never been a burner. He doesn’t have to worry about slowing a half step because he was never that kind of player anyway.
He’s an NBA power forward playing WR. He is a possession receiver and many of his TD’s were caught while he was blanketed because again…he’s an NBA power forward and is PHYSICAL!!!
I should think dumping no risk it everything down the field balls to the wall passing game will actually help Evans. Might cut into his yardage per catch but he should catch more balls in the new offense.
And as reported here ME was reported to have commented that he was never as open in the past as he was in Canalas offense. Again though it underwear practice.
June 18th, 2023 at 9:17 pm
Hey Joe, Mike has freed up a lot of money out of his contracts into signing bonuses year after year, cold hard cash, would be interested to know if he was truly underpaid.
June 18th, 2023 at 9:44 pm
Mcruzer:
Spotrac has a pretty good breakdown of salaries. You can even sort the salaries by year.
June 18th, 2023 at 11:27 pm
Yes, he should be a Buc for life