I get it.
If Mike Evans wasn’t on my team, I’d want him, too.
But much like shoveling snow and struggling to find a decent Cuban sandwich, we don’t have that problem down here in Tampa.
The No. 7 overall pick in the 2014 NFL draft, Evans was the first draft pick ever made by current Bucs general manager Jason Licht, and boy, did he nail that one.
All Evans has done since that day is become the most prolific offensive player in Bucs history, with a resume that’s on track for gold jacket consideration.
Evans has been one of the NFL’s most dominant, consistent, and durable pass-catchers since he entered the league. This past year, he notched his ninth straight 1,000-yard season, extending his own NFL record over Hall of Famer Randy Moss, who started his career with seven consecutive seasons over 1,000 receiving yards. Only Moss (10) and Jerry Rice (14) have more total 1,000-yard receiving seasons in NFL history.
After entering the league at 20 years old, Evans is heading into his 10th season of professional football, and won’t turn 30 until August. He’s still got plenty of time to keep climbing the ladder of the NFL history books before he hangs up his cleats.
So, back your team.
From the outside, it might make plenty of sense for the Evans to be a potential trade target.
After all, Tom Brady is gone (for real, this time), and the Bucs are staring at a massive salary cap overage, a long list of key free agents on both sides of the ball, and an aging roster. On the surface, the Bucs might look primed for a fire-sale rebuild, making Evans a prime candidate to ship off for draft picks and cap savings.
Unfortunately for those 31 other teams, that’s just not the reality within the walls of One Buc Place.
For starters, the Bucs have no intention of tanking 2023. Even with the daunting offseason that lies ahead of them, they know the NFC South will likely still be the most winnable division in the league next season. With a little creativity in the salary cap department (something they’ve proven they can do in the past), and the right additions to the roster and coaching staff, there’s no reason why the Bucs can’t beat out the rest of a lackluster division again in 2023.
Then there’s the matter of money. While a cursory glance at Evans’ cap number might suggest that a trade would help the Bucs in that department, that’s just not the case. Trading Evans would force the Bucs to take on $21 million in dead cap space this year, while saving them just $2 million in actual cap space. Getting draft picks is cool and all, but trading away one of the NFL’s best receivers won’t accomplish nearly enough for the Bucs financially to warrant such a much.
There’s also the intangible aspect of a move like this. While it’s true that the NFL is a business, and team executives can’t always make personnel decisions with their hearts over their heads, trading away Evans would be a massive blow to the fanbase that the current front office wants no part of right now. Even if Licht and company were able to put their own feelings about Evans aside to make a deal that could help the team rebuild down the road, the damage it would do to the culture of the organization wouldn’t be worth whatever compensation such a deal would return.
Evans still has plenty of tread left on his tires, and with Brady gone (and Lavonte David set to be a free agent), his presence as a leader in the locker room will be even more vital as the team heads into a new, challenging era.
Trading him won’t help the Bucs enough now, and it would hurt them in far too many ways to make any positive return worth it.
So, sorry to burst the bubble, but it’s just not happening.
If you’re hoping your favorite team can poach a future Hall of Fame wide receiver who’s still one of the best in the game, they’ll have to find one elsewhere.
Evans has always been a Buc, and he’ll stay one in 2023.
Probably forever.
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