The Mike Evans Contract Watch
July 14th, 2025
Joe is stunned that so many fans think about Bucs priorities in free agency next season and pop names like Luke Goedeke and Zyon McCollum before mentioning the legend in the room.
NFL writer and Hall of Fame selector Dan Pompei, of the pay-per-view site TheAthletic.com, isn’t in that camp.
In a contract-worth-watching feature at his website, Pompei adeptly filtered the noise and named Evans as the Bucs’ top contract to monitor.
Evans is in the final year of a two-year, $41 million deal. The last time he was in this position, it was apparent he and his agent were getting impatient with the Bucs. Now? He will be 32 soon but hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down. GM Jason Licht’s first draft pick in Tampa remains one of the Bucs’ greatest players ever and a leader who is highly respected in the locker room and community. The Bucs won’t want to lose him, but the team also recently signed Chris Godwin to a contract extension and used a first-round pick on Emeka Egbuka. Retaining Evans, especially at a similar price, may be difficult.
Two years ago Evans was unahappy in July of 2023 because he didn’t have a contract extension in his pocket. Now, he’s cool with it, so he told Joe last month. But how long will that last and how much cash will Evans want to stay in Tampa next season?
Sure, he could retire, but productive NFL players rarely quit at 32 years old. And Joe fully expects Evans to have a good season.
Joe doesn’t want to think of the Bucs offense without Evans and all the attention he draws from defenses.
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