Tampa Bay Buccaneers fans still can't quite believe that Mike Evans will be playing for a different NFL team this year. Sadly, that's the timeline we're living in after Evans inked a three-year deal with the 49ers despite Jason Licht and the Bucs front office trying their best to keep him in the pewter and red.
Bucs sideline reporter TJ Rives recently appeared on Sal Capaccio's podcast, Sal's House, and was asked what the reaction has been to Evans departing Tampa Bay. His answer touched on a few different aspects but it's something Buccaneers fans will find themselves nodding hard in agreement with.
"I really felt that along the lines of Derrick Brooks in the Hall of Fame, Ronde Barber in the Hall of Fame, Lavonte David... will probably be in the Hall of Fame someday. Finish your career as only a Buccaneer. And I know from talking to Mike Evans, that was -- past tense -- something that was definitely on his mind before," Rives said. "'Do I want to be remembered for only playing for one team?' And obviously that has changed... It is rare that we have seen that over the last few years of Buccaneers free agency, where a guy here has chose not to stay here on some kind of a deal and chose to go somewhere else."
Buccaneers fans devastated by what Mike Evans chose to give up
Evans' departure hurts for several different reasons. It hurts that he chose to leave in the first place but doing so after the team tried to keep him here and that he won't finish his future Hall of Fame career only playing for the Bucs stings. As Rives had mentioned, Derrick Brooks, Ronde Barber, and Lavonte David all were Bucs lifers and it's unfortunate that Evans won't be a part of that distinguished club.
Another solid point from Rives here is that Bucs fans might be crushed by this because it's not something fans have been accustomed to lately. Guys have wanted to stay in Tampa Bay and Licht has been able to keep the fan favorites in Florida. Two years ago saw Baker Mayfield take less money to remain a Buc and just last year, Chris Godwin took significantly less money to stay with the team that drafted him.
Fans didn't want to envision a scenario where Evans left because it simply seemed unrealistic. He was with the team when things were bad but then his patience paid off and the Buccaneers became a winning organization and Evans was a huge part of that. To know now that he didn't want to finish his career in Tampa Bay and be one of the few guys who only played for this team is heartbreaking.
It's hard to be angry at Evans considering what he's done for this franchise but it's understandable if fans are hurt and saddened by his decision to leave.