{"id":813369,"date":"2026-03-15T07:44:38","date_gmt":"2026-03-15T07:44:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/813369\/"},"modified":"2026-03-15T07:44:38","modified_gmt":"2026-03-15T07:44:38","slug":"mike-evans-wife-shares-emotional-farewell-to-tampa-after-49ers-signing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/813369\/","title":{"rendered":"Mike Evans’ Wife Shares Emotional Farewell to Tampa After 49ers Signing"},"content":{"rendered":"

The San Francisco 49ers<\/a> officially signed Pro Bowl wide receiver Mike Evans<\/a> to a three-year contract on Thursday. The deal, worth up to $60.4 million, marks the end of his 12-year career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Evans, who was drafted seventh overall by Tampa Bay in 2014, leaves as one of the team\u2019s most decorated offensive players. He holds the Buccaneers\u2019 records for receptions, receiving yards, and receiving touchdowns, with 866 catches, 13,052 yards, and 108 touchdowns.<\/p>\n

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The veteran wide receiver played a key role in the team\u2019s victory in Super Bowl<\/a> LV. He also earned four Walter Payton NFL<\/a> Man of the Year nominations for his community contributions in Tampa.<\/p>\n

\"Tampa<\/p>\n

Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans\u00a9 Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

(\u00a9 Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images)<\/p>\n

Evans\u2019 move to San Francisco is a big change for him and his family. He and his family have lived in Tampa since the start of his NFL journey.<\/p>\n

After Evans\u2019 move to the 49ers, his wife, Ashli Dotson Evans, said goodbye to the city. She shared her appreciation for their longtime home on Instagram.<\/p>\n

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\u201cGrateful for all the memories this city gave to our family! I will forever cherish this chapter of life \u2764\ufe0f\u2764\ufe0f thank you Tampa,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n

The NFL veteran commented on his wife’s post, saying, “Great Memories Great Ride \ud83d\ude4f\ud83c\udffd\u270a\ud83c\udffd.”<\/p>\n

Evans and his wife have been married since 2016 after meeting in college in Texas. The couple shares three children: daughters Ariah Lynn and Aliyah Nicole and son Amari Thomas. Evans also has an older daughter, Mackenzie, from a previous relationship.<\/p>\n

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Evans and his wife founded the Mike Evans Family Foundation in 2017<\/a>. Since then, the family has been active in the city, supporting students and domestic violence victims through their foundation.<\/p>\n

The 32-year-old wide receiver chose to leave after becoming a free agent. He turned down a more lucrative offer from the Buccaneers to sign with San Francisco.<\/p>\n

Evans expressed his desire for a new challenge and sees the 49ers as a team that \u201calways competes.\u201d He believes he could be the \u201cmissing piece<\/a>\u201d to help San Francisco win another Super Bowl.<\/p>\n

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The star receiver became the only NFL player to start his career with 11 consecutive 1,000-yard receiving seasons. The achievement tied him with Hall of Famer Jerry Rice. He also earned All-Pro honors twice and made six Pro Bowls.<\/p>\n

The 2025 season was difficult for Evans, as injuries hampered his production. Appearing in only eight games, he finished with 30 catches for 368 yards and three touchdowns, ending his 1,000-yard streak. Despite this, his legacy with the Buccaneers remains etched in stone.<\/p>\n

While Evans’ departure<\/a> closes a chapter in Tampa Bay, San Francisco gains a veteran playmaker for its Super Bowl hopes. All eyes are on him now as he adapts to the team\u2019s roster and system.<\/p>\n

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Related: Mike Evans Sets Priorities Straight After 49ers\u2019 Decision to Sign Him<\/a><\/p>\n

This story was originally published by Athlon Sports<\/a> on Mar 14, 2026, where it first appeared in the NFL<\/a> section. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The San Francisco 49ers officially signed Pro Bowl wide receiver Mike Evans to a three-year contract on Thursday.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":716311,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2077],"tags":[113222,211,7,700,6,1161,252,209,704,250,2597,2596,14235,1473],"class_list":{"0":"post-813369","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tampa-bay-buccaneers","8":"tag-ashli-dotson-evans","9":"tag-buccaneers","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-mike-evans","12":"tag-nfl","13":"tag-san-francisco","14":"tag-san-francisco-49ers","15":"tag-tampa","16":"tag-tampa-bay","17":"tag-tampa-bay-buccaneers","18":"tag-tampabay","19":"tag-tampabaybuccaneers","20":"tag-walter-payton","21":"tag-wide-receiver"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116232079193609875","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/813369","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=813369"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/813369\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/716311"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=813369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=813369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=813369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}