Getty Image / Nick Cammett
Tampa Bay Buccaneers GM Jason Licht wants Mike Evans to retire with the team.
Evans has spent all 9 years of his NFL career with the Bucs.
When football fans talk abut the NFL’s best wide receivers, there are a few names that are always talked about.
Those names include players like Davante Adams, Tyreek Hill, Cooper Kupp, and Justin Jefferson.
However, there is one player that has been consistently great, but still doesn’t really get the respect he deserves when it comes to being mentioned among the league’s best at the position.
That receiver is Tampa Bay Buccaneers star Mike Evans.
While he may not put up the monster numbers that some of those other stars do on a weekly basis, Evans’ consistency sets him apart from everybody else in the league.
Heading into the 2023 season, Evans has racked up at least 1000 yards in every single year of his career. Those consecutive 1000-yard seasons to start his career are an NFL record. They also have him within 2 seasons of tying the record for consecutive seasons at any point in your career, which is currently held by Jerry Rice.
For now, he’ll continue to chase that record as a member of the Buccaneers, but that could change after this season as his contract only runs through the end of the 2023 season.
While that could allow him to test free agency for the first time in his career, it seems the team’s GM doesn’t want to let that happen.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers GM Jason Licht told The Athletic’s Dan Pompei that he wants Evans to retire with the Bucs.
Mike Evans is in the last year of his contract, and the Bucs are a team in transition. Where will the future lead? “I hope and think we can figure something out so he can retire a Buc," GM Jason Licht says. "We want Mike to be here long term.” My story. https://t.co/WOPFA1YtVi
— Dan Pompei (@danpompei) August 17, 2023
“I can’t see Mike playing anywhere else,” Licht said. “I hope and think we can figure something out so he can retire a Buc. We want Mike to be here long term.”
Evans is on a pretty reasonable contract with the Bucs right now and they should have very little trouble agreeing to a deal that gives him a raise and still remains manageable.
The team is currently spending very little money at quarterback, which is usually the biggest expense for an NFL team. right now, Evans and Shaq Barrett are the only two players on the roster carrying cap hits of more than $20 million.
It would be pretty surprising if Mike Evans and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers weren’t able to come to some kind of agreement to keep him in Tampa for the rest of his career.