“Tampa Remains In A Good Spot With [Mike] Evans”
March 8th, 2026
Talking turkey with Bucs.
As of late-morning Sunday, there isn’t white smoke filling the air above Katy, Tex. But it seems the vibes are good with the Bucs’ No. 1 goal in free agency.
Jeremy Fowler of ESPN typed this morning the last-minute free agency rumors he’s hearing from his NFL sources; legal tampering is about 24 hours away before the floodgates are flung open. Fowler seems to think the Bucs and Evans are working toward a potential resolution and a reunion is not far-fetched.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers remain aggressive in attempting to re-sign Mike Evans. Buffalo would have been an ideal fit for Evans before the D.J. Moore trade occupied some of its available cash. The Commanders could emerge as a sleeper for Evans. Remember, he wants a quarterback and targets. Tampa remains in a good spot with Evans but is not a lock to sign him.
Joe keeps reading from other sources that the Chargers may be a team that wants Evans. They certainly have the quarterback. And the Chargers are a playoff team.
But, woof, the California taxes. May not seem like much to you and Joe but in Evans’ tax bracket, that’s a helluva financial bite.
Combine that with Evans’ emotional gravitational pull to the Bucs, Joe would be a bit surprised if Evans chose to play for the Chargers over the Bucs.
March 8th, 2026 at 10:52 am
Money shouldn’t matter at this point.
Another SB ring would mean a world to ME.
He knows that Bowles is incapable of winning a SB as the HC\DC.
Signing Mike would just be a ruse to get fans to support the dumpster fire.
Todd Bowles sucks.
March 8th, 2026 at 11:11 am
Taxes? Lol desperation in the air is thick shouldn’t be but it is.
March 8th, 2026 at 11:11 am
I can’t see him returning to work under Bowles after he busted his butt to come back from injury only for “3rd and 28” to happen.
March 8th, 2026 at 11:26 am
The tax rate won’t stop him from going to the niners or chargers.
If he thinks they’re in a better spot to win a ring (and of course both are) and that’s the most important variable to him, he’ll pay the extra million to play there.
Hopefully his heart remains here and he and his wife don’t want to move across the country for several months.
March 8th, 2026 at 11:49 am
Well if he could go back to the SB taxes won’t matter.
March 8th, 2026 at 11:59 am
I never thought about the Commanders.
I can see where they might hold some appeal to Mike. They check a lot of the boxes.
As for the CA teams, there’s a reason the Silicon Valley tech billionaires are all bailing out for FL and TX, and it has nothing to do with the weather.
The Texans are a concern for me.
March 8th, 2026 at 12:17 pm
If Evans is our #1goal in FA, we are one stupid franchise front office. Nearly the entire defense needs to be revamped and we’re chasing an over 30 WR like the sky is falling to throw money at? No wonder we’re 8/9. Geeez.
March 8th, 2026 at 12:23 pm
49ers are our main competition their WR1 is Pearsall right now and he’s more a WR2
March 8th, 2026 at 1:36 pm
lol @ the Texans, CJ Stroud is pure trash. I’m not poo pooing the logic as it’s his home, their defense is excellent, but I’m taking Baker a million times out of a million. If he leaves it needs to be a combination of contender AND quarterback/offense. I’ve seen nothing on the chargers – but I have seen the 49ers as a potential spot and that makes way more sense. Evans with Kyle Shanahan, McCaffery, Kittle – that would be an insane offense. When healthy the are still the most talented team in the NFC
March 8th, 2026 at 1:36 pm
Badbucs,
Was thinking the exact same thing. As much as I want Mike, our Defense needs fixing a whole lot more.
March 8th, 2026 at 2:02 pm
Report just came out saying he is going look around free agency not resign quickly. I think that means he genuinely is considering leaving or we told him no way can we pay you franchise WR 1 money.
Feels like Evans might be gone.
March 8th, 2026 at 2:09 pm
I’ve said from day one go ahead and franchise him. But now the more I think of it if it’s not a competitive and fair deal, let him go elsewhere. We need to put 80% of our efforts on defense or we won’t get anywhere in the playoffs assuming we even get there. We have plenty of fire power on the offensive side of the ball now that we have a decent OC…
March 8th, 2026 at 2:12 pm
We will never know and I’m sure Mike likes and respects Todd but… guaranteed that keeping Bowles is helping push him out the door.
I said it a month ago, Chargers and 49ers are the threats.
Both teams lost their DC so tough to be to bold with predictions but if Alt and Slater stay healthy this upcoming season, with Harbaugh and McDaniels, Chargers are a top 5 SB contender for me.
March 8th, 2026 at 2:40 pm
Mike isn’t our #1 priority or we would have tagged him
March 8th, 2026 at 2:41 pm
I hope he stays. Go Evans!
March 8th, 2026 at 3:14 pm
This is the point in a players career that good teams allow them to walk, or traded unless the discount is really nice. Mikes money brings much better value at RB, EDGE, DT, LB or even CB. We are stacked at WR and intentionally so that we don’t overpay here. I love Mike, but this is the way the business works. Please let him walk. He wasn’t worth his last contract and he likely won’t be worth this one either if he gets 20+. We are still paying for the attempt to run it back with TB12, this is a smart move in the right direction.
March 8th, 2026 at 3:23 pm
Befor noon on Wednesday, Mike Evans, Cade Ottom, Sean Tucker and Rashad White will have new Bucs deals.
March 8th, 2026 at 3:26 pm
The commenters here are becoming the worst
March 8th, 2026 at 3:27 pm
The ones who are super negative all the time I mean
March 8th, 2026 at 3:30 pm
They screwed up last year by bringing Godwin back. Should have let him walk and then pay evans.
March 8th, 2026 at 4:05 pm
Slacker. Couldn’t agree less. I think Godwin has been underrated his whole career, is one of the very top performers in the league when healthy, is in his prime, and may be set up to be our team MVP this year. I’m nothing but bullish on Godwin.
March 8th, 2026 at 4:17 pm
He can go play 8 games a year for $20 million somewhere else. Catch ball (sometimes) fall down….limp off….wash, rinse, repeat
March 8th, 2026 at 4:29 pm
If we could get a better QB, everything will be fine, M1K3 wants a better QB, not a little leprechaun, that can’t and won’t throw Him the ball, we need a better QB, for this year, or it’s going to be the same old story…….Lets Go Bucs!!!!
March 8th, 2026 at 4:39 pm
Players leave all the time for the bag but fans still stay.Im not opposed to a soft rebuild
March 8th, 2026 at 6:26 pm
I only hope Evans go away. Tired of the hype,
March 8th, 2026 at 7:24 pm
There’s 2 people that know what he’s going to do: #13 & JL. It’s all talk for now.