VERY unpopular take BUT the reality is that while bringing back Mike Evans would do wonders for the Buccaneers and their fans, is it really the best thing to do for the team?
How much money will Evans want? Last year they Buccaneers signed Chris Godwin to a three-year $66 million dollar contract. If Evans wants close to that, can the Bucs afford two WRs that take up close to $45 million of the salary cap?
The Bucs have so many needs on defense so wouldn’t that money be better used on that side of the ball?
Tampa has a plethora of good WRs. We all saw what happened to Emeka Egbuka once Evans and Godwin returned to the lineup. His targets and catches went way down and coincidentally so did the Bucs wins. He was drafted in the first-round so signing Evans further stunts his growth.
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Jalen McMillan is also a talented WR who may be better suited to this Rams like offense than Mike Evans.
Obviously without Evans they will lose that big target, especially in the red zone. In addition, nobody at WR will demand double teams like Evans does but in a rhythm based run after catch offense maybe Evans isn’t what the team needs. Evans is great at contested catches but isn’t great at taking a slant pass and taking it for 30 yards. Without Evans, maybe the Bucs will utilize their Tight Ends more.
Baker Mayfield did great in 2024 under Liam Coen, with distributing the football and you have to think he can return to this in 2026.
Many Buccaneer legends have finished their career elsewhere (Sapp and Lynch) so maybe this is the year to cut ties with big Mike?
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