{"id":802467,"date":"2026-03-09T13:46:26","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T13:46:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/802467\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T13:46:26","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T13:46:26","slug":"losing-mike-evans-would-hurt-but-it-wouldnt-be-the-end-of-the-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/802467\/","title":{"rendered":"Losing Mike Evans Would Hurt, But It Wouldn’t Be The End Of The World"},"content":{"rendered":"

As the negotiating window is about to open at noon on Monday, all the eyes of Buccaneers\u2019 fans are on the Mike Evans<\/a> situation and whether or not the greatest offensive player \u2013 arguably the greatest player ever \u2013 to wear a Buccaneers jersey returns to Tampa. On track to be a Hall Of Famer, Evans was the first pick of Jason Licht\u2019s tenure as GM and has spent his entire career wearing red and pewter. So, of course, there is an emotional aspect to this \u2013 but if he decides to walk away, the Bucs will survive.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Buccaneers have wanted to keep him. I think there\u2019s a possibility that if Mike Evans gets offered somewhere, that he could take that offer back to Tampa Bay and say, \u2018hey, what do you want here? But according to multiple sources that I\u2019ve spoken to, for all intents and purposes, Mike Evans\u2019 career as a Tampa Bay Buccaneer, until he signs a one-day contract to retire as a Tampa Bay Buccaneer, is over. He will be playing somewhere else in 2026 and perhaps beyond.\u00a0The Buccaneers were waiting, hoping that they could retain Mike Evans, but ultimately it does appear \u2014 almost certain \u2014 that he is going to be signing elsewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

Greg Auman said<\/a> on X that the Bucs will get a chance to counter any offer Evans receives \u2013 but will they want to?<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the thing; if you\u2019re Jason Licht and you\u2019re in charge of putting the best 53-man roster together you possibly can, does it make more sense to bring back Mike Evans or does it make more sense to spend that money on the defense? Remove the emotion, the sentimental feelings, and look at this strictly based on football and you find the answer. It\u2019s the defense. You need an impact edge rusher, two linebackers, a defensive lineman, and at least one corner just on that side of the ball.<\/p>\n

As far as the offense is concerned, you need two running backs, a tight end, and offensive line depth. So why would you spend half of the cash you have available to you \u2013 if the reports are accurate that he\u2019s looking for two years, $50-million \u2013 on a receiver you don\u2019t\u00a0really need\u00a0when you have defensive positions that you do really need. The only explanation is \u201cbecause it\u2019s Mike Evans.\u201d<\/p>\n

And no one\u00a0wants\u00a0Evans to leave, but his departure and using that money elsewhere may be what\u2019s in the best interest of the team. Think about another major team in the Tampa area that went through something similar recently.<\/p>\n

\u2014<\/p>\n

Julian BriseBois, GM of the Tampa Bay Lightning, was mercilessly attacked by fans on social media and message boards for allowing the greatest scorer in team history, Steven Stamkos, to walk in free agency and instead signing Jake Guentzel. Look at the Lightning now. No one is complaining about Guentzel being on the roster and no one is missing Stamkos\u2019 decline happening elsewhere. It\u2019s what was best for the short term and long term success of the franchise.<\/p>\n

\u2014<\/p>\n

If Mike Evans decides he\u2019s going to walk away \u2013 or Jason Licht draws a hard line in the sand that he won\u2019t cross when it comes to salary \u2013 then you move on and wish him the best. Evans wouldn\u2019t be the first Bucs legend to play in another uniform and he won\u2019t be the last. Warren Sapp and John Lynch both did it. Hell, Evans was a beneficiary when a legend left the only team he had ever played for to come to Tampa and win a Super Bowl. If Brady, Manning, Favre, Rice, and Emmitt Smith can wear a different jersey, then Evans can too.<\/p>\n

\u2014<\/p>\n

So when Evans makes his decision, no matter what that decision is, Bucs fans will still love and appreciate everything he did. They\u2019ll think of him fondly every time his name is mentioned and if he does sign elsewhere then fans will celebrate and wish him nothing but love on the day he signs his one day contract to retire a Buc. They\u2019ll flood Ray Jay with \u201c13\u201d jerseys on the day he\u2019s inducted into the Ring of Honor, they\u2019ll flood Canton, Ohio in red jerseys when his bust is enshrined in the Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n

What this is going to boil down to is what Mike wants. If he wants to be in Tampa, they\u2019ll make it work. If he wants to move on, he\u2019ll find a place he wants to go. That doesn\u2019t mean Jason didn\u2019t try hard enough, it doesn\u2019t mean Bowles can\u2019t still win games without him. It just means that Mike was ready for something new. I mean, he watched one of his good friends do the same in 2020 \u2013 no reason he can\u2019t follow in those same footprints.<\/p>\n

For more on the Buccaneers from James click here<\/a>, check him out on the Locked on Bucs Podcast<\/a>, then make sure you follow him on Twitter<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As the negotiating window is about to open at noon on Monday, all the eyes of Buccaneers\u2019 fans…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":802468,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2077],"tags":[211,7,700,6,704,250,2597,2596],"class_list":{"0":"post-802467","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-mike-evans","11":"tag-nfl","12":"tag-tampa-bay","13":"tag-tampa-bay-buccaneers","14":"tag-tampabay","15":"tag-tampabaybuccaneers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116199528089091425","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/802467","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=802467"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/802467\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/802468"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=802467"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=802467"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=802467"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}