The Tampa Bay Buccaneers might have to live in a world without Mike Evans. This would be a hard pill for Bucs fans to swallow considering that Evans has spent the entirety of his 10-year career in Tampa and has continued to put up gawdy numbers.
According to Jordan Schultz on X, "Evans is trending toward becoming a free agent" and this is not good news for the Bucs. Evans is a huge part of this team and without him, the offense takes a massive hit.
The #Buccaneers had a soft deadline today to get an extension done with Pro Bowl WR Mike Evans, but both sides remain far apart, sources say. Tampa Bay is set to take on $7.4M in 2024 dead money by not getting a deal done today. @BleacherReport
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) February 19, 2024
Talks will continue, but my… pic.twitter.com/fNJJFuRceH
Gary Davenport of Bleacher Report took the time to list out every big-name free agent's best fit and for Evans, it wasn't with the Bucs. Davenport said that Evans' best fit was with the Kansas City Chiefs. Now, a big thing with the Chiefs is that they don't have a ton of money to work with this offseason, sitting with just $15 million in cap space (compared to the Bucs' $32 million). Davenport mentions that in his write-up before getting into why KC is the best fit for Evans.
"But Evans has also tallied over 1,000 yards in all 10 of his professional seasons, including 79 catches for 1,255 yards and 13 touchdowns in 2023. Line Evans up opposite youngster Rashee Rice, and suddenly what was arguably the defending Super Bowl champion's greatest weakness last year becomes a strength.Gary Davenport
Besides, it's just fun to imagine the rest of the league swearing as Evans puts pen to paper in Kansas City."
Okay, maybe this is fun for Chiefs fans but nobody else is going to find Evans signing with the back-to-back Super Bowl champion "fun". All of that being said, it's hard to debate that Evans would make a lot of sense in Kansas City.
The Chiefs managed to win the Super Bowl without a 1,000-yard receiver so Evans would immediately give Patrick Mahomes a massive weapon. Nobody wants to see this happen but especially Bucs fans because it'd mean that they no longer have Evans in their offense.
Davenport provided a contract projection for the 30-year-old Evans, predicting the Chiefs would sign him to a two-year deal worth $42 million with $33 million guaranteed. If Mahomes restructures his contract, the Chiefs could theoretically make this happen. The rest of the NFL is hoping they don't, however.
Hopefully, the Bucs can keep Evans in Tampa Bay where he belongs.