Receiver Mike Evans will apparently only retire as a Buccaneer if he retires after the 2023 season.
Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times reports that talks over a new contract for Evans are at an impasse and that Evans will “probably start his last season” with the team that drafted him in 2014.
According to Stroud, it is believed that Evans was after Cooper Kupp’s money. The Super Bowl LVI MVP signed a three-year, $80.1 million contract in 2022. Of that, $75 million was guaranteed.
Evans is currently playing under a contract that pays an average of $16.5 million. He has a cap of $23.698 million for 2023, and the Bucs will post a $12.198 million dead-money burden in 2024.
Evans didn’t take a hard line in trying to get a new deal. And he’s not happy that his decision to show up and not complain was used against him.
“It makes you sick [Evans] to see players persevere and be rewarded as he does what he can for the organization on the field, in the community, off the field and working with other players in the organization,” Evans’ agent Deryk Gilmore said of Stroud on Wednesday.
While Gilmore might regret those words the next time a customer of his refused, Evans, playing dice on a non-squeaky wheel, would get some fat. That’s not how it normally works.
This is how it will work. Evans will attempt to amass 1,000 yards for the 10th consecutive season of his career. And then the Bucs will either dig deep to pay him, put the franchise tag on (at $28.35 million based on his 2023 cap, that’s not happening) or watch him walk away.