The Cost Of Franchising Mike Evans
February 27th, 2026
How much?
Before people stroke out, please keep in mind a franchise tag is nothing more than a tool to buy a team time to get a guy signed.
Of course, a team still cannot put a gun to a player’s head. And if the player signs the tag, that contract price is immediately locked in for the season.
This week at the combine in Indianapolis, Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht said he would not rule out using the franchise tag to keep Hall of Fame receiver Mike Evans.
Some fans freaked out hearing this. See the first two paragraphs.
Today, the NFL released the salary cap limit for the 2026 season, $301.2 million, an increase of $22 million from last year.
If negotiations between the Bucs and Evans, who is scheduled to be a free agent, come to a standstill, Licht could easily slap the tag on Evans by the March 3 deasline to buy him time to get to a real contract. But in case Evans does sign the tagged contract, it will pay $27,298,000. When you factor in last year the Patriots offered Chris Godwin $30 million a year, $27 million doesn’t sound horrible.
Last year, per OverTheCap.com, Evans counted $25,358,000 against the cap.
Joe isn’t sweating Evans’ status with the Bucs. Concerned? Yes. Losing sleep? Nah.
This season’s official franchise and tender numbers: pic.twitter.com/hLti6XbLtn
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) February 27, 2026
February 27th, 2026 at 2:13 pm
I’d franchise him knowing its his last year because that is better than a 2 or 3 year deal with dead money we can spend when he retires like Brady. Also, seems his agent is really pushing for a big multiple year deal knowing it #13’s last.
February 27th, 2026 at 2:26 pm
Id be losing sleep paying 27 million to a guy worth 10. I love the man, but in the business of football, you cant kneecap yourself by paying for past performance. Let him test the market and see what others value him at.
February 27th, 2026 at 2:26 pm
There’s 2 things at work here. Mikes agent doing what an agent does {some are bigger tools than others} and Mike having final say so. We’ve seen what Mike is all about, stand up guy.
February 27th, 2026 at 2:31 pm
Why would ME come back to play under Bowles?
He’s too smart not to notice the writing on the wall.
The only time he’s seen real success was with Tom Brady.
Otherwise he’s made mid to low tier QBs look good. Including Baker.
We’ve seen Bowles at his peak which is 10-7 and a home playoff loss to a rookie.
It took a world class OC to pull off 10 wins under Bowles.
ME deserves a true shot at another title. He doesn’t have that in Tampa.
February 27th, 2026 at 2:41 pm
People seem to forget that the Bucs owe Mike $13M in void year money to cover this contract at signing bonus. That $13M counts regardless whether he resigns or not. Throwing a tag in him just escalates a bad situation further.
February 27th, 2026 at 2:44 pm
Would be idiocy to franchise a player that won’t make it through the season. #Downward spiral.
February 27th, 2026 at 2:46 pm
ME is worth whatever the market is willing to pay for him, Cassandra. This means whatever offers are made to ME during free agency, that’s what he’s worth to the people who make personnel decisions on NFL teams.
February 27th, 2026 at 2:49 pm
Didn’t we franchise Connor Barth?? Haha
February 27th, 2026 at 2:53 pm
28 million, you can get a top edge rusher with that kind of money. Bucs need a edge rusher a hole lot more than a WR.
February 27th, 2026 at 3:03 pm
Egbuka doesn’t put up the stats he did if Mike wasn’t on the field. I will say this, back when it was just Mike and Chris, Mike got plenty of targets. And Jamies was a gambler and Mike was a good bet so a lot of 50/50 balls were thrown. With the Bucs having soo much capital in WR, and preaching no turnovers, they are essentially using Mike as a dummy to take away coverage and open up the others.
This doesn’t make Mike happy. He’s not getting the touches he needs. And they aren’t winning games they should have. So that makes it worse. The Bucs may be of the opinion that he doesn’t warrant that money, but honestly, even if he isn’t getting touches, he is altering coverage. It’s a big gamble to go with the guys they got. Is Chris going to get 1K? Egbukey? JMac? All could, but not sure. And what happens if injury occurs?
February 27th, 2026 at 3:03 pm
Somebody feed Todd.
February 27th, 2026 at 3:07 pm
If Mike wants a super bowl run it’s not going to be here. Not unless the defense makes big changes and the O-line actually works.
February 27th, 2026 at 3:08 pm
I’d like to see Chris Godwin and Mike Evans have a season together and healthy. With Emeka and JMac we can take some pressure off of them. But to get to see Mike and Chris, together for a season and healthy, is gonna cost some real money. Anybody who watched them by season end could see they were back. The offense looked bad because the group didn’t have enough time together. We could probably sign him for 50 million for 2 years. Probably. If Mike Evans and Chris Godwin stayed healthy and played together for the next 2 years they would have a great chance to win a championship. I think it’s important to say I think that both are still playing prime years football. They’ve taken great care of themselves. Not everyone thinks they are playing prime. I disagree. Pay Mike.
February 27th, 2026 at 3:10 pm
Apparently, Bucs pay based on past performance than future. Their loyalty to player should not be a one way affair. The business of football requires Licht to grow a pair and send Evans and LVD packing and spend that money on younger players.
February 27th, 2026 at 3:17 pm
Mike should tell Jason, “I’ll sign my contract on 3/28 and I want 3 years at $28 million a season.” 3rd and 28, Never Forget!
February 27th, 2026 at 3:53 pm
“Flush Bowles” has a great point!!!!
And uh, if you do flush, the Bowles appears to be clogged…..
February 27th, 2026 at 3:59 pm
Bucs been doing a lot of stupid stuff lately why would I be surprised that they continue the trend.
February 27th, 2026 at 4:03 pm
You can’t keep comparing the year before on every level. Evans is 33 and has the Bucs by the balls. $27,298,000 THE BUCS need to negotiate he could simply play for 27 million dollars or only hurts the Bucs not him. If Evans moves on it has to happens eventually. Go get your ring Mike you aren’t even assured 1k and a playoff spot with this head coach
February 27th, 2026 at 4:33 pm
Another site has the Bucs retaining Evans at a 50% chance at best.
He wants targets, yards and wins.
Keeping Bowles has so many negatives attached to it, hard to even process the feelings about it anymore.
Will be cheering for Mike whichever color he wears next season.
February 27th, 2026 at 4:38 pm
I agree with a lot of the posts. I will always cheer for ME 13. He is a class act, and
A team player. I Will keep praying he stays on the Bucs team.
February 27th, 2026 at 5:16 pm
Stupid is as stupid does…
Some of you folks are totally delusional.
Plus – why would ME13 want to spend his final season here?
Get real.
February 27th, 2026 at 5:47 pm
no…spend $$$$ on defense please
February 27th, 2026 at 6:23 pm
I agree, Joe. Mike will stay with the Bucs. With the new attitude at OV, he should be happy. Bowles is another issue, but hopefully Bowles can get over his own stubbornness and actually allow the defense to become what it should be.
February 27th, 2026 at 6:38 pm
Licht will not use the franchise tag on him. They already stated he has earned the right to test free agency…by saying that, they HAVE said he won’t be tagged.
Regardless, those claiming Mike isn’t worth re-signing at $20+ million are wrong. You cannot count last year against him. He was on IR…yet he still returned earlier than expected.
The man is worth another year.
February 27th, 2026 at 6:43 pm
I would also point out that free agents are short term, expensive fixes. Bringing in 1-2 for an all-in move is okay, but our defense needs draft picks who will turn into long term players.
Build through the draft. Always.
But…to be fair… it’s possible this could be an all-in year for Bowles. That’s a mystery that will be revealed soon.
February 27th, 2026 at 7:06 pm
Love him, but he’s old, let him test market, someone’s gonna gamble and show him the money.
February 27th, 2026 at 7:19 pm
ABSURD
RECKLESS
TITLE
February 27th, 2026 at 7:50 pm
Dallas just slapped a “non-exclusive” franchise tag on the WR Pickens. Can we draw any analogies between Jerry’s situation in the Big D and what is going on with Mike Evans?
February 27th, 2026 at 7:53 pm
Between Mike and Chris we paid 50 million for 14 games total. Rinse and repeat? Really? How sweet we are so sentimental.
February 27th, 2026 at 8:29 pm
They are both due for big seasons though just looking at the law of averages.
I don’t mind signing ME13 to a 3 year contract. 50 guaranteed.
Kick the can a little, extend Baker and Vita and trade for Crosby.
Go win a SB.
February 27th, 2026 at 8:46 pm
If we can’t come to an agreement with Mike, I would not be surprised if we draft a TE who can replace Mike presence in the red zone, and roll with the receivers we have.
Zac using Pitts the way he did against us might have them thinking different strategies.
February 27th, 2026 at 9:13 pm
Total Cap Liabilities: $294,479,664
Top 51: $293,339,073
Team Cap Space: $20,941,710
Offense: $184,443,501
Defense: $102,980,572
THAT tells a story by itself. 66% of the cap on offense and only 33% on D
And then you casuals complain about the D.
Wake up fools. Wake up Joe’s. Where’s the article on this? SMDH
Jason Licht is GARBAGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
February 27th, 2026 at 11:17 pm
The cap has gone up 40% in the last 5 years.
Whatever number you have in your tiny little brain as being big, isn’t valid, dummy.
February 27th, 2026 at 11:22 pm
Listen Rod…I don’t know if you’re on the spectrum or whatever…you have serious issues. I literally expect you to be mentally handicapped in some way with all your posts that are so far out there. That’s ok lil fella.
Let’s check your math/reading comp skills.
Offense spend $184 mill
Defense spend $102 mill
Unless you are truly a retard…do you understand the difference? Stopped embarrassing yourself. The offense is almost DOUBLE the defense. You get that tardboy? You math at all?
You’re either one of the Joe’s trolling or they’ve let a troll post on here way too long or you’re handicapped and it is out of mercy.
Either way STFU already. Thanks.
February 28th, 2026 at 2:31 am
buccintimeforchanges – and who on the defense do you want to give massive money to?
February 28th, 2026 at 3:38 am
Franchise and if he wants to play elsewhere give him the ability to seek a trade. Losing him in FA makes no sense after paying him to barely play last year. NFL is a business. It doesn’t have to be hard feelings. Tag him and if he finds a trade partner on a team he wants to play for then make a trade.
February 28th, 2026 at 9:06 am
Makes zero sense to let Evans go but keep Godwin. Evans is far more valuable to the Bucs than Godwin and I LOVE Godwin, but we have at least three players who can do what he does. We don’t have anything close to replace Evans with.
I’d prefer to see them both on the field. With restructures, the Bucs have more than enough cap money to do practically anything they want.
Evans has played in 175 out of 197 possible games during his career, missing only 21 (9 of which were last season, mostly due to the collarbone). Other than the freak collarbone injury, Evans has been less injured than the average #1 receiver in the NFL during his career. Not even 50% of them played 14 or more games last season.
February 28th, 2026 at 9:36 am
Managing the cap is one of the most important things a GM does. When Brady left, the Bucs were stuck with more than $81 million in dead cap money for the 2023 season. That number fell to $62.5 million in 2024 and just shy of $51 million last year.
This year, the Bucs have only $254,000 in dead cap money. That is INCREDIBLE! Only the Giants have a lower dead cap hit ($217,000).
That gives the Bucs a TON of flexibility that they have not had since the brief Brady era. It’s also one of the reasons why Licht is so highly regarded around the NFL for getting a team so far in dead cap hell out of the hole so quickly while still putting a competitive team on the field the past three seasons.
Expect some major restructures and a whole lot more salary cap room this offseason than the roughly $21 million currently available, despite any re-signings.
February 28th, 2026 at 11:15 am
BUCS were “stuck” – Jason Licht converted a bunch of salaries to bonuses CREATING that mess himself!!!!!
Good lord – you losers have Stockholm syndrome.
Jason Licht created the mess – he sucks. He’s a loser. Brady’s gone and we’re stuck with two losers in Todd and JL – both career losers.
February 28th, 2026 at 10:22 pm
I’m kinda going back and forth on Mike. I know the guy can’t seem to stay healthy, but he is arguably the greatest Buc of all time. It would be extremely disrespectful not to try and work out a fair contract for him, especially when I do think he will still contribute in some fashion. I know it’s a business, but Tampa is one of the few organizations that still has a family feel to it. That’s what makes it such a closely-knit franchise, in my opinion. Plus, I don’t hear people calling for the Chargers to get rid of Hampton, or the Cardinals to part ways with Harrison Jr., and they’re rookies.
March 1st, 2026 at 8:26 pm
buccintimeforchanges – “Jason Licht created the [salary cap] mess”
Yeah, winning a Superbowl in the process and the same way the Rams did the year afterward. It’s also the same mess that the majority of the geniuses here think he should be doing now to make the team an immediate Superbowl contender again.
March 1st, 2026 at 8:31 pm
Although I respect our new O.C., I don’t think the Bucs have a chance at having a top tier offense without Evans. Their record and scoring without him on the field in the past are windows into a life without Evans.
NONE of the receivers on the current roster could come close to filling his shoes. If they can’t sign him before the draft, it changes everything regarding who they target with the #1 pick and it very well might be the top receiver on the board again, although one with a different body type and skill set.