How Much Money Does Mike Evans Want?
August 1st, 2023
Bucs GM Jason Licht
Fans — and Mike Evans — are well aware that the Bucs legend has no contract for the 2024 season, which would be his 11th in the NFL.
The Bucs want Evans to stay in Tampa. (What team wouldn’t want Mike Evans?) And Evans wants to stick around. So Joe doesn’t need a Master’s in business management to know decisions will come down to money.
TampaBay.com updated the Evans-Bucs contract chatter this week with a few lines from Evans, who dropped the popular “B” word.
“Of course, I’d love to finish my career here,” Evans said. “There’s really nothing I can do about it. I’m not going to stay home and make a big deal about it. So, I’m just out here working as hard as I can.
“That’s what I’m doing. I’m here. I’ve always loved being here, and obviously I want to stay here and I’m sure they want to keep me. But it’s a business.”
Yes, the “B” word is business. How many tens millions is Evans supposed to leave in the Team Glazer vault so he can stay with the team that drafted him in 2014?
The sides want to get a deal done this summer, which certainly would give Evans the security of massive guranteed money in the future if he were to get injured in 2023.
Evans’ five-year contract (his current deal) averaged about $16 million per season. The going rate now for an elite receiver is in the neighborhood of $25 million a year. That means the Bucs are in position to get solid value by potentially slapping the franchise tag on Evans after this season.
The tag would pay him about $21 million for 2024, and both sides could continue negotiating a deal before next season while he’s under the tag.
Some fans might scoff at franchise tagging Evans, but “it’s a business” cuts both ways. Remember, Shaq Barrett and Chris Godwin each played a season under the tag, so Evans certainly knows the Bucs won’t hesitate.
So what’s Evans’ magic number to sign on the dotted line? Joe thinks the Bucs would be foolish to let Evans get away in any form, unless there are serious draft picks involved and the Tampa Bay season is deep in the toilet before the Halloween trade deadline.
August 1st, 2023 at 10:29 am
deep in the toilet
********************************************************
Interesting choice of words considering one of the favored pejoratives for our current HC.
August 1st, 2023 at 10:30 am
Dole it out, Gazers.
August 1st, 2023 at 10:30 am
Just pay the man 20 million a year and call it a day. Mike has never been one to be greedy. He has always done team friendly deals and reworked his contracts several times for the organization. It’s a no brainer to get the deal done.
August 1st, 2023 at 10:30 am
don’t sign him yet.
he will have an off year w/o Brady gauranteeing him 1000 yards and jw not being here to play jump ball with him. 10 mill….next year
August 1st, 2023 at 10:33 am
120 over 4 years with 90 guaranteed or 3 years 90 million with 70 guaranteed.
August 1st, 2023 at 10:39 am
Enough to retire as a Buc, so get the books together and make it happen.
August 1st, 2023 at 10:51 am
Serious draft picks indeed! All the Jets trade rumors…the only team that has been connected to trade rumors are absurd. ME for a couple of mid round draft picks. This is just another arrogant NYC con job that assumes the Bucs will suck so badly after Brady that ME will be happy to leave and the Bucs will be in a total rebuild mode.
Neither of these things are true. This is just the NYC media “wishcasting” for another target for newly acquired Aaron Rodgers.
It also assumes that the Bucs will be forced to let ME go after this year without figuring in the “franchise tag”.
Both the Bucs and ME can do better than what the Jets are talking about!!!
August 1st, 2023 at 10:51 am
@ Bucsfan81
That sounds about right to me… Similar to the deal Godwin got last season.
3 years @ $60M with $40M guaranteed.
August 1st, 2023 at 10:56 am
Both Evans and David should retire from the Bucs from a fan perspective. And you’d be crazy not to want them around like Brooks and Barber and what they do for the young players. Yes it’s a business, but looking beyond their career and what they can do for the Bucs after is just as important. The Bucs have never been that franchise that’s front and center in the NFL and how situations like this can really affect that.
August 1st, 2023 at 11:06 am
I predict he’ll resign a 3-year deal for $63-69M.
Mike is Licht’s all-time favorite draft pick. His 1st 1st. Licht wants Mike to retire a Buc.
August 1st, 2023 at 11:16 am
Losing Evans = Losing Fans. Whatever it takes.
August 1st, 2023 at 11:31 am
The Bucs need to get this done, not just because we want Evans, but because his cap number needs to come down this year to have some space for in season maneuvers. There are no other reasonable cap tricks left to open space.
August 1st, 2023 at 11:35 am
Sign him now. Spread it out. Make it for 5 years. Make it over $100m.
He’s worth it. He’s earned it. It will help the team.
Don’t wait and franchise. It’s not good business. The deal done now helps in 2023 and it will show him how valued he is to the team.
This is a guy we want living in Tampa for the remainder of his life. He is a leader. Not just on the field.
August 1st, 2023 at 11:36 am
Evans will have his opportunity to get his 1000 this year. No doubt in my mind. Even more so with the help from a TE group that is going to have a Great Year.
Evans knows that he is getting older and any offers are going to be declining.
Talk to him in private, let him know that you want him in Tampa, and you want what is best for him.
Give him a number up front and let him go out and see if he can do better.
Treat him with the respect he deserves and he will certainly give Tampa the chance to match the offer he gets or come close.
Loyalty goes a long way in the workplace.
August 1st, 2023 at 11:43 am
Dwayne Cone Says “Loyalty goes a long way in the workplace”
The best phrase in JBF history, agree 100%…
Mike Evans is the best Buc ever.
Licht make it happen, if not, tons of fans will be upset ….
ME13 is not Devin White.
The LVD’s Goodwin’s are very important not only because they perform, they are good teammates, professionals and they love to be a Buc, and like Dwayne Cone Says, they are LOYAL
August 1st, 2023 at 11:56 am
Get it done Licht!
August 1st, 2023 at 12:12 pm
I’m sick of hearing comments like BOSS and other analysts talk about how ME13 won’t have a chance to get 1k yards without TB12 or Winston. Come on. ME13 had mclown n glennon throwing to him his rookie year and Johnny football in college. ME13 makes QBs not the other way around.
August 1st, 2023 at 12:40 pm
Mike Evans turns 30 before the season starts. NFL wide receivers start to decline from 30 to 33. Therefore the Bucs should offer him a 3 year deal for no more then 66 million.
August 1st, 2023 at 12:42 pm
Joe … ‘Some fans might scoff at franchise tagging Evans, but “it’s a business” cuts both ways.’
Since the NFL initiated the salary CAP & the CBA, ‘It’s a business & it cuts both ways’ has become the law of the land. But if I was Mike Evans, the last thing I’d want would be to have the Bucs franchise tag me.
Mike most likely has 1 more lucrative contract left at his age (30 this month). Yes he’d make around $21 mil if franchise-tagged, but it’s a 1-year contract with ZERO guarantees. If he gets injured (like Godwin, Shaq or Jensen did?), chances of him getting a long-term contract for big bucks would be lessened significantly. I wouldn’t want to take that chance at age 30.
From the Bucs perspective, franchise-tagging ME13 is even worse. They’d have to eat the entire $21 mil next year (like we had to when we franchise-tagged Godwin). Given our other NEEDS (re-signing Wirfs, Winfield & almost surely a host of others like LVD, Gaines, Neal, etc), we can’t afford to be eating a $21 mil bill for 1 player.
Our best bet is to re-sign Mike to about a 4-year contract SOON so he can finish out his career here. The sooner the better, because he’s got a CAP hit of $23.7 mil this year. What’s almost as bad, when his contract ends this year, we’ve still got THREE void contract years to pay for ($12.2 mil in 2024, $4.8 mil in 2025 & $2.6 mil in 2026), years that the NFL will then consolidate. That’s almost $20 mil that we’ll still take a CAP hit for AFTER he gets through playing for us. All that can be ‘adjusted’ with a new contract. Git er done JL.
August 1st, 2023 at 1:15 pm
Can you imagine planning to Franchise Tag this guy and then he gets 1300 yds and 13 TDs?
Can you imagine losing ME the year he ties Jerry Rice?
I don’t even think 3 years is enough.
Do we really want to play the year by year game?
4 years guarantees he retires as a Buc.
Plenty of time to break the record and retire with all 1,000 yd seasons.
August 1st, 2023 at 1:56 pm
M1K3 ain’t going nowhere
August 1st, 2023 at 2:10 pm
I’m sure he can get 58 yards per game.
I believe about 25 other receivers did the same thing last year in the NFL.
It’s not a big deal anymore.
August 1st, 2023 at 3:16 pm
@BOSS – You must be one of those fans who just started watching our Bucs when Brady got here . Evans has been catching TDs and putting up huge numbers WAY before Brady ! Mike Glennon , Josh McCown , Ryan Fitzpatrick .. It never matters who the QB is when it comes to Evans , he’s going to be a future HOF WR if he retired today.
August 1st, 2023 at 4:37 pm
Sign the man. He works hard, stays in shape and he still plays at an elite level.
Mike should retire as a Buc, then join the Buc organization in some capacity. He’s a heady player and would make a good future coach or executive.
August 1st, 2023 at 4:58 pm
I figure he’ll end up getting like a 3-year extension for $20m/year, knowing that is slightly undervalued in year 1 of that extension, probably a fair value in year 2, and probably too high in year 3 – so that means it works out to be a fair deal.
Get it done Licht. Evans should be a top receiver for this year and next year, then drop off slightly, then in the last year should still, at worst, be a good starter.
Unless Evans is wanting something like a 5-year extension, I’m not sure what the hangup is on getting this done.
August 1st, 2023 at 5:06 pm
A true Buccaneer man professionally on and off the field, great teammate great community guy, charity guy and role model for others.
Never an issue or off the field problems and not a diva headache or locker room cancer.
Pay the man with pride, Buccaneer for life, future HOF for sure.
August 1st, 2023 at 5:44 pm
Great analysis as usual DR. I think both sides will be eager to get a deal done, especially because…
This. Licht likes to keep his draft picks, and nothing would be a bigger feather in his cap than his 1st 1st being a Buc for life.
Plus the fans (minus a few dummies) all want it too.
August 1st, 2023 at 6:02 pm
Well next year our cap woes should be over and we can sign him to a deal fair on both sides
August 1st, 2023 at 6:12 pm
A Bucs Fan Says:
“120 over 4 years with 90 guaranteed or 3 years 90 million with 70 guaranteed.”
.
.
I found M1K3’s agent.
August 1st, 2023 at 7:07 pm
Evans is just a class act all the way around.
There’s a clip from LeSean McCoy doing an interview a few days ago, he named Mike Evans as the best teammate he’s ever had.
“This dude is just a great person.”
August 1st, 2023 at 9:42 pm
I think they will find a way to make it work. Lavonte needs to retire a Buc and Evans does too. It’s worth paying the price for the team, the fans and the player. Some players become legends here and these guys are in line like Derek Brooks, Mike Alstott and Ronde Barber. Letting Mike Lynch go was a mistake and he’s moved on. Sapp still claims the Bucs, but the Raiders, the NFL, Vegas Hookers, nobody else wants him. I miss Steve White and still bumbed that he’s gone. He was a wealth of knowledge, always willing to share and just too too cool.
August 1st, 2023 at 9:47 pm
When Steve White was a regular on JoeBucsFan, everyone tuned in because his insight was that of a really good coach. He just saw the little things that matter and are so easy to miss. Thx to him, I see them too, but I never would have if not for his teachings here. So thx for that Joe. And God Bless Steve White. Baller
August 1st, 2023 at 10:14 pm
BigMacAttack Says:
Steve White
.
.
When was he active on here?
August 2nd, 2023 at 12:15 am
Used to have a column. And yes, he used to be active in the comments.
August 2nd, 2023 at 12:21 am
That must have been before Jaboo, because I don’t remember that. Sorry I missed it.
August 2nd, 2023 at 5:18 am
Don’t care about the money for Mike! Get it done!
Hear that Diva?
Go Bucs!
August 2nd, 2023 at 11:03 am
Glazers will do the right thing and make sure Evans retires a buc.
August 3rd, 2023 at 12:00 am
I love evans and only want to see him as a buc. However this team has no qb and no hope. It may be smart to trade him to a contender instead of having him suffer 4 win teams. Stack draft picks and let’s get the use qb in the draft