“Tom, you, Spytek and Davis can keep pretending you know what you’re doing. We’re looking at another playoff run.”
How close was Tampa Bay to being a good team last season?
The answer depends on who you ask.
Joe is confident almost everyone collecting a check at One Buc Palace thinks the Bucs were close — and believes the Bucs are now only several new assistant coaches, healed offensive linemen and a couple of strong offseason finds from being a Super Bowl contender.
Many fans, however, are spooked by what they believe are serious coaching and roster questions, and the inexplicable lack of fire from the Bucs late last season.
So what does pending free agent receiver Mike Evans think? That’s an important question.
Joe suspects Evans believes the Bucs would have been a strong playoff team if he didn’t miss 9 games with various injuries. Evans knows he’s a difference-maker. Over the past two seasons, the Bucs are 14-8 when Evans plays, and 4-8 when he does not.
That’s why former NFL QB and longtime BSPN analyst Tim Hasselbeck said last week that he thinks the Bucs top the list of teams where Evans would fit in 2026.
“Look, they’re a legitimate contending team,” Hasselbeck told the world about the Bucs on ESPN TV. “They can win their division, [re-signing Evans] gives themselves a shot. I think that makes sense.”
Joe is not losing an ounce of sleep thinking Evans will bolt Tampa. Evans loves and respects the Bucs with all his heart, and the Bucs feel the same about him. And name an iconic franchise receiver who left his team when both sides felt fully loved and respected?
Joe hasn’t found one.
From Jerry Rice (49ers) to Davante Adams (Packers) to Randy Moss (Vikings) to Steve Smith (Panthers) and Julio Jones (Falcons) and more — iconic receivers on Evans’ level that left their original teams — all had some sort of beef of major disagreement with their club. Evans doesn’t have that.
So what about the money, Joe? Great question!
It’s hard to believe the stars of Raise The Flags: 50 Years Of Buccaneers Football, aka Bucs co-owners Team Glazer, will not pay to keep Evans. Did Team Glazer retain Todd Bowles against major fan backlash only to tell Bowles he can’t have arguably his most dangerous player, a guy who changes defenses and keeps D-coordinators up at night?
That wouldn’t make a lot of sense.
“This Joe” thinks Team Glazer is a highly competitive entity that wants nothing more than Bowles to have a huge bounceback year to shutup the naysayers, even drawing a shred of extra motivation from the loud ‘Bowles Must Go’ crowd.
Bowles and Buccaneers Ring of Honor general manager Jason Licht will host news conferences at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis on Tuesday. Joe expects to hear a strong win-now mindset and focus from both of them.