Buccaneers, Intent On Keeping Team Together, Re-Sign Mike Evans

NFL free agency begins next week and, well, Mike Evans of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers isn't going to get there.

The Bucs and Evans have agreed on a two-year contract that will pay $52 million with approximately $35 million in guaranteed money. The deal keeps Evans from hitting free agency for the first time in his 10-year career.

This is good news. And bad news.

It's good news for the Buccaneers and their fans because it signals the team has every intention of keeping together the core of the 2023 team that won the NFC South for the third consecutive year.

Bucs Going To Retain Their Own

The Buccaneers don't expect to be super active in signing players from other teams during free agency, because their $43 million in expected cap space doesn't lend itself to that. But they're going to be signing players from their own team. General manager Jason Licht said as much last week at the NFL scouting combine.

"We're focused on signing ours right now," Licht said. "I mean, if we can re-sign Mike [Evans] and Baker [Mayfield] and Lavonte [David], Chase [McLaughlin], Antoine [Winfield Jr.] and Tristan [Wirfs], I mean, we should be throwing another boat parade. So, that's a pretty good class there."

Thanks for the team's priority list, Jason!

Keeping Evans is a key move because he's obviously very good. He has pieced together 10 consecutive 1,000-yard receiving seasons. But his chemistry with quarterback Baker Mayfield was impressive and a reason his 1,255 yards was his third-highest season receiving total of his career.

That's higher than he ever had when Tom Brady was at quarterback.

So retaining Evans is key, especially in light of the fact the Bucs are also working diligently to re-sign Mayfield before the free agency negotiating window opens March 11.

The negotiations with Mayfield are advancing, per a league source, and the hope is it is done by the opening of free agency.

The Bucs, by the way, are intent on keeping the proverbial band together because they were surprising in posting a better record last year than the previous year with Brady while still winning the division. They surprised themselves in a rebuilding year.

Baker Mayfield caught on hot mic discussing future plans. (Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports)

Baker Mayfield Is In Line For New Deal

"Well, it’s a lot closer than we thought and that was good to see," Licht said. "That was a sign of a great organization, scouts, coaches, players. So, I think when you look back to 2020, we had a lot of depth – some veteran depth, some young depth – but we had a lot of depth and I think depth might be the key."

The Evans deal today is bad news on some fronts.

It's bad for the clubs that circled getting Evans in free agency.

Multiple NFL teams held informal talks – yeah, that never happened under NFL rules, wink, wink  – last week at the scouting combine to see what the Evans price range and availability might be in free agency.

The Kansas City Chiefs were among the teams expected to be interested in Evans.

The Chiefs, off consecutive Super Bowl titles, will now have to look elsewhere for receiver help.