“I’m Not Talking About My Contract Until I Get One”
September 18th, 2023
Joel Glazer and the rest of Team Glazer have many decisions ahead.
Mike Evans was on the phone late yesterday.
The guy talking to Evans was prepping for the Sunday Night Football panel discussion on the NFL events of the day.
Yes, Buccaneers get called for that kind of thing when the team wins. ProFootballTalk.com guru Mike Florio chatted with Evans and brought up the subject of his contract extension demand.
Evans replied, per Florio, “I’m not talking about my contract until I get one.”
The greatest receiver in Bucs history surely could have taken that conversation in many directions after a 171-yard afternoon, but he chose a simple, direct and classy comment.
So will the Bucs pay Evans market value when or before his contract expries after this season?
It’s a complicated crossroads for Team Glazer and general manager Jason Licht. If Evans has a good season along with pending free agent quarterback Baker Mayfield, then the Bucs are staring at having to spend massive money on both. There would be no point to waving goodbye to Mayfield if he plays well (though Joe does have chilling memories of the Michael Bennett fiasco 11 years ago). And why invest in Mayfield if you’re going to launch his No. 1 receiver?
But you can’t pay everyone.
Joe can’t imagine Evans in another uniform, but Joe also can’t imagine what the Bucs landscape will look like in three months.
Regardless, smirks and smiles probably were flowing across One Buc Palace today after NBC analyst and former defensive back Devin McCourty was barking on the prime time NBC broadcast, “Pay Mike Evans!”
Man, it’ll be so fun if cash-hungry Devin White balls out against the Eagles next Monday night.
September 18th, 2023 at 3:35 pm
This is a good problem to have, I guess. Its better than the alternative
Damn all of that kicking the can down the road the Bucs did the past few seasons is finally catching up but they went all in and got a super bowl ring out of it so you cant complain.
September 18th, 2023 at 3:53 pm
ME13 making team Glazer look silly.
I think Licht is just waiting on the word. He would love to have Mike back.
Here’s the owners chance to walk-the-walk of their “community minded owners” boast.
Glad at least 1 party is taking the high road here.
September 18th, 2023 at 3:55 pm
Good points 951…
Last season was the killer. I’m so appreciative for Brady’s stint with the Bucs. It was one year too long, however. Last season was painful on a lot of fronts…for him personally too ( obviously ). Anyways…a very pleasant surprise so far this season…much more fun than last season already.
September 18th, 2023 at 4:01 pm
Hopefully he is extended by week 8
September 18th, 2023 at 4:05 pm
Winny your dead right. Last year annoyed me so much I wanted Brady to go so bad, I couldn’t stand it no more. Thank you Tom for 2020 it was amazing, hell I was there for SB win. Best night of my life.
But it was time to turn the page, this team has too much talent and we consistently draft well. When you draft well, you get these problems.
September 18th, 2023 at 4:05 pm
much better than last reason….but thats on lefty and bowels.
canales is refreshing and toilet bowl seems to have realized he will be out of job after this year, so he is taking risks instead of playing not to lose and putting Brady in a hole and expecting him to be superman.
If bowels keeps it up I will change my tune…but 2 games does not tell me he has changed his stripes.
September 18th, 2023 at 4:14 pm
I think Licht wants Evans to retire as a Buc if possible. After all, that’s his very first draft pick, and we know that Licht (like most GMs) wants to keep their draft picks in house for as long as possible.
But we’re going to be in a tough situation next year if we have a good record this season, as we’ll need to figure out how to pay:
Evans
Mayfield
Wirfs
White
Winfield
And prob a few other guys I’m forgetting about.
September 18th, 2023 at 4:16 pm
Glad to see Mike did not take the bait. Media trying to set him up. He is a class act. He is the field with his team busting hi a$$ not a hold out where he could be. That says all that needs to be said.
September 18th, 2023 at 4:17 pm
@Boss – I don’t think it was Bowles “putting Brady in a hole and expecting him to be superman” last year.
Perhaps you’ve forgotten, but the offense was putting itself in holes all too often last year. Did you forget how many times we went 3 and out all season long? Did you forget how much our offense struggled in the red zone? Banged up sub-par offensive line, no tight ends who could catch, worst run game in the league, Godwin coming back from surgery and a 45 year old QB who (rightfully) didn’t want to take hits…
September 18th, 2023 at 4:21 pm
^ on the field his
September 18th, 2023 at 4:25 pm
Keep playing like you did against the Bears and you will have the new contract you are seeking…
No more dropped passes/TDs.
September 18th, 2023 at 4:29 pm
Unbelievable
BINGO! Who doesn’t respect ME’s immense talent and IMHO he still has plenty left in the tank, who doesn’t respect he’s been a class act his entire stay with the Bucs…IE Who doesn’t want the Bucs to resign ME13 now?
Unbelievable asked the proper question though. There are going to be some very, very difficult decisions ahead.
You got the stars and potential superstars in guys like Winfield and White and Wirfs. Unless somebody can figure out to turn a few fish and loaves of bread into a meal for thousands…( I see nobody with that skill set still walking the earth) there is an impossible conundrum.
So guys…rather than simply say “pay him”…we ALL want that…tell us how the Bucs CAN pay him and keep the others. There may be a way.
I’ll wait for D.R. and Pickgrin and guys who know the cap far better than me to tell us what a long shot it is to keep ALL of Unbelievable’s list. So who goes?
BTW D.R. or Pickgrin or somebody who knows…what are the laws re performance clauses in terms of the cap, in terms of the Collective bargaining agreement? What if guys were heavily compensated based on production and performance.
Guys already get money for reaching plateaus in the playoffs…what about the regular season is the possible?
September 18th, 2023 at 4:32 pm
EVANS, WHITE, WIRFS, WINFIELD. Thats going to be a lot of money to have to sign with only 20+ million under the cap next year.
September 18th, 2023 at 4:33 pm
Pay the men.
September 18th, 2023 at 4:37 pm
unbelievable, provides 5 free agents the Bucs need to consider with $25M in available cap space. They can cut Gage ($13M) and Jensen? ($17M) to make more room. Probably some other moves to get $60-70M. Plus 1 franchise tag.
Evans
Mayfield
Wirfs
D White
Winfield
If the guys are willing to be reasonable, I think Licht can resign them all to around $20M a year (with Winfield on the franchise tag).
NOTE: Even if the Bucs go 12-5, we are the only team that will resign Baker as a starter. We’ll be paying him $20-$30 a year. Not $40-$50M.
September 18th, 2023 at 4:38 pm
If the season continues to go well we can probably back on Ryan Jensen moving on at a large savings. Additionally, it was a small sample, but Zion Mcollum played pretty well yesterday. If that continues I would imagine we cut loose one of our very expensive corners as well.
September 18th, 2023 at 4:47 pm
SlyPirate
THANKS! That was well done. At least you’ve provided a ray of hope.
September 18th, 2023 at 4:52 pm
SlyPirate if the Bucs go 12-5 and Mayfield plays well there will be a lot of teams willing to pay Baker more than 20-30million. You can take that to the bank.
September 18th, 2023 at 4:54 pm
I haven’t done all the math here, so we’d have to see what the price is to do this, but if Bowles ends up coming back, and sticks with this mostly zone defense, then you don’t need those expensive corners. Dean just got a new deal, so I don’t know what it would cost to trade him, in terms of dead cap, but I’d trade Davis and Dean. Yes, that sounds stupid, but if you just run zone, and you’re paying big money for man-to-man corners, well, that’s like $27m/yr I think.
Next up, thank you Shaq, but that’s a huge cap number. Unless he has a monster year, he’ll be gone.
Didn’t Jensen get a 3 year deal for cap purposes only? I think the 3rd year was a void year, so there’s no savings there unless they resigned him. Doing this off the top of my head, so I could be wrong.
Next up, the one people don’t want to hear, but if it’s Mike or my man Rod Godwin, sorry bud, but I’m taking Evans, even if you’re only getting 2 more elite years.
The big thing is that Godwin, Davis and Dean all have some actual trade value, so you’d get some quality picks – even if it’s not the insane things that fans would assume.
Also keep in mind the cap is expected to go up a good amount again next year. No one knows the number, and some of that number ended up counting on this years cap which went up a lot more than expected, but I’d think it’d go up at least $15m, but could be more like $20-25m on the high side. Of course all that does is inflate the salaries of everyone. For example, had the Bucs extended Evans last offseason, like I asked for, they easily could have got it done at $20m. But because of that Christian Kirk $20m/year contract he got from the Jags, that broke the market, and it’s why Mike would be insulted by offer now.
September 18th, 2023 at 5:00 pm
Do you overpay Evans, who can’t beat man coverage from guys like Lattimore and has a tendency to drop passes or do you try to retain White, Winfield, Wirfs and maybe even Mayfield…
No team is currently paying TWO WR’s $20 million each. Can’t dedicate that much cap room to that position and be competitive in the trenches
September 18th, 2023 at 5:00 pm
For those worrying about Baker’s deal… slow down.
It’s 2 games, and you’re the same people worry about how we’d possibly be able to keep Fitz in 2018 after 2 games.
Lets see where we are after that Buffalo game.
It’s no disrespect towards Mayfield, I like what I’ve seen so far, but these have been two bad defenses – and having a couple of good games in a row can happen even for mediocre quarterbacks. With that said, Fitz’s run was obviously unstainable, anyone with an IQ over 44 knew that he wasn’t going to rewrite the NFL record book that year – but Mayfield so far has just been really good, there’s nothing ridiculous about his play where you know for a fact he’s going to fall back to earth. BUT, with that said, Baker’s tape over the last two years is what it is, and on that tape he crumbles under pressure, so this game against the Eagles is going to be huge.
But after that Buffalo game, if Mayfield at that point still looks good, hasn’t had a meltdown, that’s when you start worrying about the future with him – and that will be an extremely tough situation if he has a big year and you bring him back, that does mean losing a lot of guys.
September 18th, 2023 at 5:01 pm
First Name Greatest Says:
September 18th, 2023 at 5:00 pm
Do you overpay Evans, who can’t beat man coverage from guys like Lattimore
——–
LOL!
Yeah, he can’t ‘beat’ Lattimore… nevermind the 50 yards a game that Lattimore has in pass interference calls vs Mike.
You need to do more than look at the box scores.
September 18th, 2023 at 5:02 pm
If Mike doesn’t get a new contract I will stop watching football he’s my 3rd favorite buc of all time..
For anyone curious
Brooks
Sapp
Evans
David
Barber
Alstot
Lynch
Rice
Vea
Gmac
Barrett
Wirf
September 18th, 2023 at 5:09 pm
If the NFL salary cap increases to $256M Over the Cap has the Bucs at $62.13 MILLION in cap space but with only 36 players signed.
There are 6-8 or so relatively cheap players who will be re-signed – guys like Greg Gains, Feiler, Neal, Leverett, Thompkins, McGlaughlin, etc. – plus we will have 7 new draft picks to add to the roster.
So 36 + 6 + 7 = 49
The Bucs can save @ $10M by signing T. Wirfs to a long term deal instead of paying him the $18.6M he is due on the 5ht year option deal.
I think it will be a little tight but we should have plenty of cap space to get deals done for:
– Evans
– Winfield
– LVD?
– Mayfield?
– White
I’m not saying the Bucs are in “great” cap shape – but it won’t be as bad as it was this past off season. $75M is dead cap space was brutal…
September 18th, 2023 at 5:34 pm
I guess we aren’t going to keep everybody happy. Who do we keep? We only got to keep LVD because he was willing to play for lot less money than he’s actually worth. Really, if Baker works out as well as we hope he alone can command at least 15% of our cap all by himself. If the cap is about 250 million a top tier QB like Herbert or Burrow can claim 20% of that. Those two make 50 million a year.
September 18th, 2023 at 6:41 pm
They’d be stupid to let him go or to consider trading Godwin. So much for tanking which some hoped for.🙄
September 18th, 2023 at 8:57 pm
Evans
Mayfield
Wirfs
White
Winfield
Plus you have to sign Godwin to a new contract the following year.
There is no cap savings for cutting Shaq and Jensen. They both restructured their contrant to get us cap room.
September 18th, 2023 at 9:19 pm
Evans will be back next year. There will be the odd man out. If Bowles is back, he will be the one to decide which player he cannot live without, then be asked to coach up the replacements in the draft. 45 is a luxury you cannot afford when cash strapped, and in particular when you can bring back LVD at a third of the cost. I think the cap space will be trimmed from the defensive side of the ball.
September 18th, 2023 at 10:38 pm
If mayfield balls out. The team must sign him. He’s 28. Good Starting qb’s don’t grow on trees in the nfl.
White same way. He’s like 24. Must sign.
Then the Bucs must get team friendly contracts and tag Wirfs.
260 million cap is a ton of dabloons.
Extend and pretend….and see where it ends up.
Are the Bucs still on the hook for Brady money next year?
September 19th, 2023 at 12:25 am
@SlyPirate- the Rams might very well pay Mayfield if Stafford decides to retire. Kenny Pickett is not the answer for the Steelers, they might be in there. I doubt the Patriots would pay him. Maybe the Titans decide to move on from Tannehill?
There’s a few teams that could be in the mix if he actually does ball out this year, but I don’t see him getting more than Danny Dimes money at most. Though he might just decide to follow Canales whereever he gets picked up as HC, because if we go 12 and 5 with a revitalized Baker, I don’t see how Canales isn’t a top HC pick for whoever wants one next year. Maybe the Bears decide to Clean house, pay Baker while developing whoever they draft?
I honestly hope they both stay with the Buccs and we get a competitive team for the next four years.
September 19th, 2023 at 2:39 am
If Baker is good I am pretty certain he would give up several million dollars to stay with our team and the city he is now calling home. As well as staying with a team that believes in him. I hope he continues to do well here and better.
September 19th, 2023 at 4:47 am
I have a solution!
Tell the greedy owners to increase the salary cap!
Roger the commissioner makes 45 million per year.
So why don’t the billionaire owners increase the salary cap by say 100 million?
God knows they can afford it!
September 19th, 2023 at 5:52 am
I know these guys have a job but sometimes they just need to leave stuff alone.
Florio should have left that question unasked. If I’m Mike, any future questions from this dude get the minimum answer or none. He just had an unreal game and you gotta bring that crap up? Really gotta have the scoop that bad dude?
Geez
Go Bucs!
September 19th, 2023 at 7:22 am
Someone will pay Mike Evans. The Bucs, or another team. Yawn. That’s the kind of stupid crap that people talk about in offseason when there’s nothing else to yak about. This is the season, man, and there’s real honest to God football, in games that count, to talk about. Leave it at that.
September 19th, 2023 at 7:28 am
Teacherman – the collective bargaining agreement determines how much of the revenue goes to the players and how much to the teams (not just the owners, but the money that covers all of the expenses of operating a team, including staff payroll, marketing, stadium operations, transportation, etc. etc.).
The owners can’t simply say “let’s pay the players more” without taking money away from other people, and shorting operating expenses.
The current CBA guarantees 48.8% of all revenues to the players for salaries. That by the way far exceeds the payroll costs for most businesses in the US. Typical payroll costs come to around 25-30% of gross revenue, with operating costs and capital expenditures consuming most of the rest, leaving the average profit margin for owners (stockholder) around 5-7%.
So you’re a school teacher? Obviously not a business person or you’d know that.
September 19th, 2023 at 7:36 am
Like I’ve said, if anyone can do it $$$$, it’s Jason Licht. ME13 knows that better than a mere fan does.