Mike Evans’ camp fires back at report he is career with Buccaneers is “over”

As free agency finally gets underway, Tampa Bay Buccaneers fans are sitting around anxiously wishing it hadn't. Mike Evans is a free agent for the first time in his career, and it certainly feels like a chapter is about to be closed in ways none of us were expecting.

Evans' pending free agency has kicked up all sorts of national attention with the winds of the rumor mill gusting him everywhere from Buffalo to Houston to Los Angeles. It's created a ton of stress for Bucs fans and, as it turns out, for those inside of Evans' camp.

CBS Sports reported on Sunday that Evans' career with the Bucs was "over", something that understandably shook everyone in the fandom up a bit. It apparently took Evans by surprise, too, as the report from Jonathan Jones was quickly refuted.

Both Greg Auman and the folks over at Pewter Report were quick to combat the bombshell report with a little dose of the truth.

There's a lot that can still happen, and the needle does seem to be tipping more toward the side of things where Evans doesn't return, but we can all hold out hope until that point actually arrives.

We all knew Evans' career with the Bucs would come to an end at some point; it was just widely assumed that when that happened, it would have been with Tampa Bay. Instead, it appears his journey has come to an end but he still has distance left to run in his career and it'll be a path that takes him away from the only team he's ever known.

Or will it?

Even if he does leave it won't change the impact Evans had on the Bucs. He's a future Hall of Famer who will go down as one of the greatest players in franchise history. He's a Super Bowl champion who routinely chose the Bucs over leaving and has earned the right to see what life is like on the other side.

Mike Evans is a Buccaneres franchise legend, full stop. Nothing will ever change that and he will retire with the team even if it's just a one-day contract sort of deal. This free agency could have been messier than it will be, because no matter if his career in Tampa Bay is "over" or not, his legacy with the Buccaneers will last forever.