Like Mike Evans, former Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians will always be a legend in the 727 for guiding Tom Brady and the Bucs to the franchises second ever Super Bowl to kick off the 2020s. And he recently dropped a nugget on his former No. 1 wide receiver that will have Bucs fans buzzing.
There has been some pessimism that Evans could be seeking pastures anew and wanting to chase his second Super Bowl ring outside of the city that brought him his first. The Buffalo Bills, especially, are driving hard after Evans, who wants to work with a top offense as the WR1, much like what he currently has in Tampa (but maybe minus Todd Bowles).
That said, Arians does not seem convinced that Evans is at all entertaining an exit from Raymond James Stadium. The legendary offensive mind told Sports Grid TV that he would be beyond shocked if Mike Evans actually wanted to leave the Tampa Bay Buccaneers:
Bruce Arians thinks Mike Evans is staying
“I don’t think it’s very tough [to re-sign Evans.] I mean, it’s just a matter of just meeting somewhere in the middle. You know, Mike loves Tampa; Tampa loves Mike. Chris Godwin went through this last year and was actually rehabbing more so than Mike is. I think [Evans] earned the right to check the market and then bring the market back. I’d be very, very shocked if he wanted to leave. All the parties just got to come to a good agreement.”
Everything Arians is saying here makes 100 percent sense, and you can leave it up to the charismatic former head coach to boil it all down to its simple, most optimistic ingredients. The city of Tampa loves Evans so much there is already literally a holiday named for him, and anyone who thinks Evans does not reciprocate this love to Tampa is deluded.
And the Bucs would have to be foolish to not want Evans back. We all saw how much better this offense ran with him, and a big reason for the collapse was the injury he suffered. Baker Mayfield looks so much better with Johnny Manziel's old college savior, and you could say the same for any quarterback in this league.
The Bucs loss would be the Bills or some other top quarterback's gain. It all makes too much sense for Evans to stay in Tampa Bay for at least one or two more years.