Deryk Gilmore, the agent for Buccaneers WR Mike Evans, tells Mike Garafolo of NFL Media that they will end contract talks with the team next Saturday if there isn’t a long-term deal in place before the start of the season.
“Despite our efforts over the past two years, and the professionalism of Bucs General Manager, Jason Licht, and Assistant General Manager, Mike Greenberg, we have not received an offer to stay in Tampa,” Gilmore said in the statement. “This is disappointing to Mike as he sees other teams step up to keep key pieces and players that are important to their organizations. Many players with his status would have held out of camp to not risk injury, but Mike has continued practicing hard, as always, because he puts his team first.
“When you have a player that will be a Hall of Famer and still has four to six more years to make an impact in the league, you move Heaven and Earth to keep him on your team, and we would hope ownership feels the same way.”
Both parties have expressed interest in getting an extension done that would keep Evans in Tampa Bay for potentially the remainder of his career.
Evans, 29, 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 is set to make a base salary of $13 million in the final years of his deal and will become an unrestricted free agent in 2024.
The league held up a one-game suspension for Evans last season for his role in a brawl with the division rival Saints.
In 2022, Evans appeared in 15 games for the Buccaneers and caught 77 passes for 1,124 (14.6 YPC) and six touchdowns.
We have him included in our Top 100 – 2024 NFL Free Agents list.
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