Todd Bowles Speaks on Mike Evans Departure, Lavonte David Retirement

Todd Bowles: Losing Evans Was Tough

“Oh man, that was tough,” Bowles stated when asked about Evans leaving for San Francisco, via Nick Shook of the NFL.com. “He’s the best of the best on and off the field. I can’t say enough good things about him. They got a great one, as they know, we know how great he was. Very hard to see him leave sentimentally and professionally from that standpoint for me and everybody else involved.”

There has been a growing chatter that Evans no longer believed a Tampa Bay Buccaneers roster led by Todd Bowles and quarterback Baker Mayfield was positioned to contend for a Super Bowl with him still in the fold. Tampa Bay showed early promise, entering its Week 9 bye at 6–2, but the season unraveled down the stretch with seven losses in their final nine games, ultimately costing them a postseason berth.

While the Buccaneers signed head coach Todd Bowles and general manager Jason Licht to multiyear extensions last offseason, there is a growing sense that both could find themselves on the hot seat if Tampa Bay misses the playoffs again next season.

Bowles expressed confidence that a receiving group featuring Emeka Egbuka, Chris Godwin, Jalen McMillan, and Tez Johnson can help offset the loss of Mike Evans as a target for Baker Mayfield. Still, it appears the retirement of Lavonte David may have hit Bowles harder than Evans’ departure in free agency..

Todd Bowles: David Hanging Them Up Really “Stung”

“Personally, this one really stung me,” Bowles stated about David retiring. “It’s gonna sting me from an attitude standpoint. …He was the guy off the field that got everyone going, he practiced that way, he carried himself that way. He was, right now, the cream of the crop of who you want to coach and how you want that guy to play. He was that guy, he was that guy for us for 14 years. I can’t say enough good things about him, he was like a brother to me.”