![\"Mike](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/GettyImages-2190121026-e1755221188196.jpg\")
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Mike Evans and Lavonte David are both sitting out of Saturday’s preseason game<\/p>\n
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers<\/a> seem determined not to place the franchise tag on veteran wide receiver Mike Evans<\/a>, and want to make it seem like some kind of benevolent act to let him become a free agen<\/a>t.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s the thing \u2014 NFL<\/a> teams don\u2019t do benevolent acts when it comes to roster moves.<\/p>\n Everything is calculated, and almost no one is better at those calculations than longtime Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht.<\/p>\n \u201cLove Mike and would like to have Mike back,\u201d Licht said at the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis on Tuesday. \u201cHe\u2019s earned the right with his r\u00e9sum\u00e9, and Mike as a person, what he\u2019s meant to this entire community, fan base, all of us. I could go on and on, which we have. He\u2019s earned that right. We\u2019d love to have Mike back, and we\u2019ll just see how the process goes.\u201d<\/p>\n Evans just played out a 2-year, $41 million contract and could have a lot of suitors in the open market. The franchise tag would pay him somewhere in the neighborhood of $28 million in 2026 \u2014 something the Buccaneers shouldn\u2019t be so dismissive of.<\/p>\n Bucs Should Reconsider Franchise Tag for Evans<\/p>\n ESPN\u2019s Jenna Laine<\/a> reported the Buccaneers seem set on letting Evans become a free agent for the 1st time in his career. That would be a huge mistake.<\/p>\n \u201cCould the Bucs franchise tag Evans?\u201d Laine wrote. \u201cTechnically, yes, but the feeling inside the organization is that Evans has given 12 seasons to the team, and he deserves to have agency over where he spends the remaining years of his career. They also have to weigh whether the move would make sense financially, considering they\u2019d have to pay him $27-28 million for one year when he was averaging $20.5 million on his last deal.\u201d<\/p>\n Evans has dealt with injury issues the last 2 seasons \u2014 he missed 3 games in 2024 due to a hamstring injury and 9 games in 2025 with another hamstring injury followed by a broken collarbone<\/a>.<\/p>\n Giving Evans the franchise tag also increases the likelihood of him finishing his career in Tampa Bay<\/a>, where he\u2019s spent his entire career to this point.<\/p>\n So what if Evans, who already has $155 million in career earnings, gets that $8 million raise? If he puts up another 1,000-yard season and the Buccaneers make the playoffs, it will be worth every cent.<\/p>\n Contenders Could Line Up to Sign Evans<\/p>\n After Evans announced he was going to return for a 13th NFL season in 2026, Bleacher Report\u2019s Moe Moton<\/a> put together a list of the Top 5 landing spots for the 6-foot-5, 231-pound former 1st round pick in free agency \u2014 all 5 are Super Bowl contenders.<\/p>\n Moton\u2019s list included the Houston Texans<\/a> \u2014 Evans grew up in the Houston area \u2014 along with the Kansas City Chiefs<\/a>, Baltimore Ravens<\/a>, San Francisco 49ers<\/a> and Buffalo Bills<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cTampa Bay may prefer to build around a young receiver group of Emeka Egbuka<\/a>, Tez Johnson<\/a> and Jalen McMillan<\/a> alongside veteran Chris Godwin<\/a>,\u201d Moton wrote. \u201cAt this stage in Evans\u2019 career, he would probably prefer to sign with a playoff contender if it\u2019s not the Buccaneers. After an injury-riddled season with career-low receiving numbers across the board, the battle-tested veteran likely will not command a lucrative, long-term contract.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tTony Adame<\/a> covers the NFL for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Washington Commanders, Dallas Cowboys, Baltimore Ravens, Philadelphia Eagles and Denver Broncos. A veteran sports writer and editor since 2004, his work has been featured at Stadium Talk, Yardbarker, NW Florida Daily News and Pensacola News Journal. More about Tony Adame<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Buccaneers\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Mike Evans and Lavonte David are both sitting out of Saturday’s preseason game The Tampa Bay Buccaneers…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":288979,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2077],"tags":[211,7,6,704,250,2597,2596],"class_list":{"0":"post-778156","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tampa-bay-buccaneers","8":"tag-buccaneers","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-nfl","11":"tag-tampa-bay","12":"tag-tampa-bay-buccaneers","13":"tag-tampabay","14":"tag-tampabaybuccaneers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116138477169577535","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/778156","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=778156"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/778156\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/288979"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=778156"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=778156"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=778156"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}