Buccaneers Won’t Reach Deal With Mike Evans Today, Talks To Continue Before Free Agency

According to Dianna Russini, the Buccaneers and WR Mike Evans will not reach an agreement on an extension before the end of today. 

That means Evans’ prior contract will void and stick Tampa Bay with a dead money bill they can’t spread out in future years, which an extension could have accomplished. Instead of counting $4.8 million in dead money against the cap, Evans will count $12.2 million against the cap no matter what, even if the two sides eventually reach a new deal. 

Jordan Schultz adds today was a soft deadline for a deal for that reason, and both he and Russini say the two sides will continue to negotiate. 

However, Schultz notes there’s a feeling that Evans is trending toward hitting unrestricted free agency barring a change in discussions. The two sides still aren’t close on a new contract. 

Evans’ projected franchise tag would be $28.4 million instead of the regular $21.6 million, as the tag is always the greater number between the projection or 120 percent of the prior year’s salary. This means he is unlikely to receive the tag. 

Evans, 30, is a former first-round pick of the Buccaneers back in 2014. He was in the final year of his four-year, $14.631 million, and set to make a base salary of $690,000 for the 2017 season when he agreed to a five-year, $82.5 million extension that includes $55 million guaranteed in 2018. 

Evans made a base salary of $13 million in the final year of his deal and is now set to become an unrestricted free agent next month. 

In 2023, Evans appeared in all 17 games for the Buccaneers and caught 79 passes for 1,255 yards receiving and 13 touchdowns.

We have him included in our Top 100 – 2024 Free Agents list.