Well, folks, it happened. After 12 years of watching Mike Evans turn into a franchise legend for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, fans are going to have to watch his 13th season while he wears a San Francisco 49ers uniform.
Evans officially ended his time in Tampa Bay on Monday, agreeing to a three-year deal with the 49ers as the legal tampering period opened. It wasn't a quick decision, but it's one that cuts way deeper than we could have even imagined.
Losing Evans is bad enough, but the statement his agent released in the immediate aftermath somehow made the situation even worse.
It's a lengthy statement, but there are a few specific parts that hit like a semi truck and feel like the Bucs getting thrown under all 18-wheels. Essentially, the decision was made not because the Bucs didn't offer enough money but because Evans simply doesn't want to play for them anymore.
"Mike Evans’ decision to leave Tampa was never about money. The Buccaneers were extremely aggressive in their pursuit and presented a very strong offer, demonstrating how much they value him and everything he has meant to the franchise," Evans' agent, Deryk Gilmore, said in the statement. "In the end, this decision simply came down to Mike wanting a new challenge and a fresh opportunity while he still feels he has a great deal left to give the game."
That's a lot of words to say that Evans doesn't think the Bucs are capable of winning, or that he believes in the way things are going anymore. It's not hard to read between the lines and get that interpratation, and it's part of what makes this whole situation feel even worse than it already did.
It's just impossible to not read that statement as an indictment of Baker Mayfield, Todd Bowles, and Jason Licht. Specifically Bowles, who is going to get even more heat from fans than he already was after this -- and it's hard not to drink from that punch bowl.
There are readings of this that Evans chose Brock Purdy over Baker Mayfield as hiw quarterback, which fundamentally misses the key reason: Evans picked Kyle Shanahan over Todd Bowles. Money was not the issue here; the contract San Francisco gave Evans averages out to less than what he made with the Bucs, which is a major shot across the bow.
It's hard not to think of Evans' reaction to the 3rd and 28 blown coverage play in the loss to the Falcons, or the historic collapse the Bucs suffered to miss the playoffs last year. Evans isn't leaving Buccaneers fans, he's leaving and forfieting the chance to be the fourth player ever to spend his entire career with the Bucs because he no longer believes the people in charge can help him win.
The reason why he left will certainly be something that sticks in the minds of fans still angry at how last season ended, and a locker room that was just abandoned for one he perceived as being better.
Evans' statement had a lot of words in it but nothing is more of a scathing indictment than that.