The San Francisco 49ers made a huge splash in free agency, prying Mike Evans away from Tampa Bay where he had spent the entirety of his Hall of Fame career to this point. Evans gives the Niners a massive weapon on offense, and he's looking forward to getting to work with his new team.
When speaking to the 49ers media for the first time, Evans revealed why he wanted to join San Francisco, and it's an answer that won't surprise fans but will likely fire them up. He praised Kyle Shanahan's play-calling and was only interested in joining "contenders and teams with good quarterbacks."
That's huge praise to both Shanahan and to former seventh-round pick Brock Purdy, as that's who will be throwing the ball to Evans now.
It's not hard to see why Evans feels this way. Shanahan has proven himself to be an excellent play caller, able to get the most out of his players no matter what the situation is. The 49ers' injury-riddled roster a season ago still produced at a high level, and Shanahan was a big reason for that. Purdy has also proven himself to be a solid quarterback in the league, and he's going to be even better now that he has Evans at his disposal.
49ers fans will love what Mike Evans said during his introductory press conference
Evans also believes that he's the missing piece for this Niners squad. He pointed out that the 49ers had 13 wins a season ago and were one piece away from winning it all.
He thinks he's the missing piece.
"[The 49ers] went 13-4 last year. I think they were one piece away, and I feel like I'm that piece."
This is music to Niners fans' ears. It's cool that Shanahan and Purdy were draws for Evans, who was always going to be hard to pry away from the Buccaneers, and now we'll get to see what he can do with an offensive-minded head coach leading the charge for him. As for Purdy, it'll be a lot of fun to see him let the ball rip with a guy like Evans for him to throw to.
This should be a ton of fun, and 49ers fans should be stoked!