Mike Evans and Lavonte David
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Mike Evans and Lavonte David are both sitting out of Saturday's preseason game
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers seem determined not to place the franchise tag on veteran wide receiver Mike Evans, and want to make it seem like some kind of benevolent act to let him become a free agent.
Here’s the thing — NFL teams don’t do benevolent acts when it comes to roster moves.
Everything is calculated, and almost no one is better at those calculations than longtime Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht.
“Love Mike and would like to have Mike back,” Licht said at the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis on Tuesday. “He’s earned the right with his résumé, and Mike as a person, what he’s meant to this entire community, fan base, all of us. I could go on and on, which we have. He’s earned that right. We’d love to have Mike back, and we’ll just see how the process goes.”
Evans just played out a 2-year, $41 million contract and could have a lot of suitors in the open market. The franchise tag would pay him somewhere in the neighborhood of $28 million in 2026 — something the Buccaneers shouldn’t be so dismissive of.
Bucs Should Reconsider Franchise Tag for Evans
ESPN’s Jenna Laine reported the Buccaneers seem set on letting Evans become a free agent for the 1st time in his career. That would be a huge mistake.
“Could the Bucs franchise tag Evans?” Laine wrote. “Technically, yes, but the feeling inside the organization is that Evans has given 12 seasons to the team, and he deserves to have agency over where he spends the remaining years of his career. They also have to weigh whether the move would make sense financially, considering they’d have to pay him $27-28 million for one year when he was averaging $20.5 million on his last deal.”
Evans has dealt with injury issues the last 2 seasons — he missed 3 games in 2024 due to a hamstring injury and 9 games in 2025 with another hamstring injury followed by a broken collarbone.
Giving Evans the franchise tag also increases the likelihood of him finishing his career in Tampa Bay, where he’s spent his entire career to this point.
So what if Evans, who already has $155 million in career earnings, gets that $8 million raise? If he puts up another 1,000-yard season and the Buccaneers make the playoffs, it will be worth every cent.
Contenders Could Line Up to Sign Evans
After Evans announced he was going to return for a 13th NFL season in 2026, Bleacher Report’s Moe Moton put together a list of the Top 5 landing spots for the 6-foot-5, 231-pound former 1st round pick in free agency — all 5 are Super Bowl contenders.
Moton’s list included the Houston Texans — Evans grew up in the Houston area — along with the Kansas City Chiefs, Baltimore Ravens, San Francisco 49ers and Buffalo Bills.
“Tampa Bay may prefer to build around a young receiver group of Emeka Egbuka, Tez Johnson and Jalen McMillan alongside veteran Chris Godwin,” Moton wrote. “At this stage in Evans’ career, he would probably prefer to sign with a playoff contender if it’s not the Buccaneers. After an injury-riddled season with career-low receiving numbers across the board, the battle-tested veteran likely will not command a lucrative, long-term contract.”