Buccaneers Sign WR Mike Evans To Five-Year, $82.5M Extension

Update:

Adam Schefter reports that the Buccaneers and WR Mike Evans agreed to a five-year, $82.5 million extension that includes $55 million guaranteed.

Evans will make $16.5 million per year as part of this deal and is now under contract through the 2023 season.

Evans has already confirmed the deal, via his Instagram account:

Bucs Nation, I’m excited to announce I will be spending the next several seasons in Tampa Bay with the Buccaneers with one goal in mind: winning a Super Bowl with my teammates. I want to thank the Bucs, from the owners to the front office, for believing in me and allowing me to take care of my family. I want to also thank my agents; Deryk Gilmore and Darren Jones for all of their hard work. I’m going to continue to strive for greatness on the field as well as in my community.  #BUCSNATION! Check out details of the deal on www.MikeEvansOfficial.com Mike

A post shared by Mike Evans (@mikeevans) on Mar 9, 2018 at 12:56pm PST

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Peter Schrager is hearing that extension talks between the Buccaneers and WR Mike Evans are getting “closer and closer” and it’s possible that an agreement could be in place at some point in the near future.

A month ago, Evans’ agent, Deryk Gilmore, told PewterReport.com that there haven’t been any negotiations with the team regarding a long-term extension for his client.

“We’re not doing any negotiating. We’re just going to wait and play it out,” Gilmore said. “We think that the Buccaneers are a great organization. We feel that they really care about Mike; they care about the direction of the franchise and where it’s going. … He’s under contract so what we like to do is let him finish up. We think [Evans’ stats and records] will speak for itself, and when it comes time to do the deal I think his deal will be in-line with what we plan.”

Gilmore implied they’re fine with Evans playing out the 2018 season under the fifth-year option and setting himself up for a big payday in 2019.

“He’s under contract so what we like to do is let him finish up,” Gilmore said. “We think [Evans’ stats and records] will speak for itself, and when it comes time to do the deal I think his deal will be in-line with what we plan.”

However, it appears as though things have changed and the two parties could be closing in on an extension that would ensure Evans remains in Tampa Bay for the foreseeable future.

Evans, 24, is a former first-round pick of the Buccaneers back in 2014. He’s currently in the final year of his four-year, $14.631 million and stands to make a base salary of $690,000 for the 2017 season.

The Buccaneers picked up his fifth-year option last April, which will keep him under team control through the 2018 season at $13.258 million.

In 2017, Evans appeared in 15 games for the Buccaneers and caught 71 passes for 1,001 yards receiving and five touchdowns for the Buccaneers. Pro Football Focus has him rated as the No. 14 receiver out of 116 qualifying players.

We’ll have more regarding Evans and Buccaneers as the news is available.