Make The Call
June 1st, 2026Flash poll posted at 8:04 a.m. Poll closed at 9:28 a.m.
25 Responses to “Make The Call”
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Flash poll posted at 8:04 a.m. Poll closed at 9:28 a.m.
June 1st, 2026 at 8:07 am
No, see 3rd and 28
June 1st, 2026 at 8:15 am
If Mike Played and scored would the defense have given the score right back? Prognosticators of course will say yes 1 more win.
June 1st, 2026 at 8:25 am
Lee blaming last season on Baker really bothers me. How can he not see that the offensive line was beat up? What happened to Baker after the bye week? He got the you know what kicked out of him as the season went on. He says himself that they had terrible depth on the oline.
June 1st, 2026 at 8:35 am
Yea, I can think of some instances in the redzone & goaline spots where having Mike would’ve given us 7 rather than 3.
Even only playing 8 games, Mike tied for 3rd most Receiving TDs with Bucky with 3, which was half of what Egbuka caught in 5 of 17 games. Last 8 games of the season EE didn’t score at all.
June 1st, 2026 at 8:38 am
Yeah this is a no brainer, idk what Ira is thinking with that take. My thing is, the defenses were keying in on him, which allowed Egbuka for the most part to thrive. Chris was still not 100 and Otten had to block. Eventually Mike was going to be able string together good games.
June 1st, 2026 at 8:42 am
Captain Coconut donut doesn’t think Evans was worth one more win in 8 games.
That’s ludicrous at best. Very few teams have weapons like that and even fewer have a leader like Mike.
We are going to feel the pain of his absence this season coming up.
Just like Johnny Manzel, he also made Baker look way better than he is.
I see a huge drop off coming on offense. You heard it here first.
June 1st, 2026 at 9:00 am
Let it go
June 1st, 2026 at 9:10 am
We’re far better off with the 22 million or so it would have taken to re-sign him, which allowed us to sign a couple of very good free agents
June 1st, 2026 at 9:13 am
Agreed with WiscoJoe.
Lee & Ira have been way too harsh on Mayfield for the second half of the year given the injuries and terrible defense. @Lee also says the offense was dink and dunk, but that is bc they didn’t have time to throw deep! How was he supposed to carry the team given the defense and injuries below.
Mayfield, just like Brees, needs strong interior Oline play to be effective as a smaller qb.
Wirfs – 8 games
Mauch – 16 games
Goedeke- 6 games
Bredeson – 6 games
Evans – 7 games
Bucky – 7 games
Godwin – 5 games
McMillan – 13 games
June 1st, 2026 at 9:28 am
I hate that Evans is no longer a Buccaneer – but it was his choice – and its hard to argue with the fact that the money required to keep Mike here was much better spent this year bolstering the defense by bringing in ILB Anzalone, DT Robinson and OLB Muhammed ($23M for those 3 players).
Especially considering the talent remaining in the WR room (which is the main reason ME13 left IMO….)
June 1st, 2026 at 9:34 am
“So people understand the deal with Mike Evans and dead money: Bucs have $13 million in dead money from his contract about to end. If they don’t sign him by Wednesday — whether he leaves, retires or signs with Tampa later — all $13 million counts against the 2026 cap for Bucs.”
per G.Auman
So the $22M($-13M) some of you think we saved, at best is really just $9M
June 1st, 2026 at 9:34 am
“So people understand the deal with Mike Evans and dead money: Bucs have $13 million in dead money from his contract about to end. If they don’t sign him by Wednesday — whether he leaves, retires or signs with Tampa later — all $13 million counts against the 2026 cap for Bucs.”
per G.Auman
So the $22M($-13M) some of you think we saved, at best is really just $9M
June 1st, 2026 at 9:46 am
Not with an injured QB
June 1st, 2026 at 9:51 am
Last year wasn’t the fault of any ONE person or situation. It was the culmination of too many things going wrong at once.
Will we .iss Mike? I already do miss him being a buc…but his best ability was not availability.
June 1st, 2026 at 9:52 am
Wow, Joe! Did you fix my typo for me? Thanks!!!
June 1st, 2026 at 9:54 am
Warren Brooks Lynch,
I’m not sure if him signing with another team changes that.
June 1st, 2026 at 10:10 am
“I’m not sure if him signing with another team changes that.”
It does not change it. The void years were part of his last contract. Even if he re-signed we’d still be on the hook for that $13M dead money hit if he did so after free agency started rather prior to FA starting where the team could’ve just added that dead cap hit to his new deal. Kicking the can further down the road.
Fact is, just because we didn’t pay Mike to stay doesn’t mean we aren’t still paying for Mike when he was here. It’s just the way dead money works, not Bucs/Evans specific .
June 1st, 2026 at 10:14 am
WBL – that $13M was dummy contract dead $ used to gain cap space in previous years. That $ was owed against the cap whether ME resigned or not. Yes – it could and would have been “absorbed” into a new deal for ME and pushed down the road another year or 2 – but the $13M was still going to be owed no matter if ME re-signed or not….
So the full amount of whatever Evans would have signed for (and the reports were that the Bucs offered over $20M) WAS indeed saved!
June 1st, 2026 at 10:38 am
Lots of “adults” on here with hurt feelings. Wow. Baker is NOT the type of leader who elevates teammates. He’s just not that guy, or type of QB-Leader.
June 1st, 2026 at 10:39 am
“So the full amount of whatever Evans would have signed for (and the reports were that the Bucs offered over $20M) WAS indeed saved!”
Math & accounting does not work like that.
If Mike signed before FA started, our options would’ve been to push the $13M into a later void year date.
If Mike re-signed after FA start, we would be on the hook for the price of the new deal AND $13M in dead cap
Mike left, we still payed the -$13M. So take the $20M-$22M we didn’t pay Mike you still have to factor the -$13M we ate at the start of FA into those “savings” because it took that amount away from our overall salary cap.
Debit doesn’t magically disappear, it’s not that hard to understand.
June 1st, 2026 at 10:45 am
They lost games when he played this is silly like ira said would Mike have rushed the passer? No the win and loss would have been the same cause it wasn’t wr play that was the problem and Mike isn’t the star he once was is also a factor.
June 1st, 2026 at 10:52 am
Surely Mike would have been worth an extra 4 points in one of the close losses. Regardless, We’re better off with the new blood. He’s Julio Jones at this point. Too old, too slow, too injured, too expensive. Sorry Mike, have fun traveling in SF for less money.
June 1st, 2026 at 11:59 am
Our GREATEST EVER offensive @STAR by miles ans miles left on UGLY TERMS…
YES… He Would Have changed the fortunes of at least one game if he were able. Most of you people act as if it wasn’t a BROKEN COLLAR BONE as he FOUGHT HARD for YOUR entertainment as the reason he was out of those games! Lots of FOOLS are citing a pulled hammy as the reason.
Perhaps Mike realized that the few too many RIDICULOUS so called fans, didn’t appreciate ALL THE SACRIFICES HE MADE SO THAT THERE COULD BE A VIABLE FOOTBALL TEAM ….. FOR YEARS!…. AT ALL!
Do any of you New or Part-Time Buccaneers fans have a CLUE AS TO WHAT THE MAN ACTUALLY DID FOR THIS TEAM THAT THE GLAZERS AND VERY, VERY FEW OTHERS ON THIS TEAM DIDN’T or COULDN’T DO?
Your NON UNDERSTANDING MAKES IT CLEAR THAT YOU PEOPLE DON’T KNOW, OR UNDERSTAND JUST WHAT WE LOST WHEN MIKE HAD, HAD ENOUGH OF THE CLOWN SHOW THAT “HE PERSONALLY (HE DID NOT HAVE TO) SACRIFICED FOR” What was the actual point by then? The REST OF THE TEAM had QUIT. Mike WAS ready. But he was by himself. I’m ALSO WONDERING if the O line didn’t play a “darker part” in the dismantling of this once Glorious team…
Mike WASN’T out of gas. He was tackled DIRTY! The type that BREAKS NECKS! He got back as quickly as he could with a broken collar bone, just as McMillan got back as quickly as he could with a broken neck! Grow UP!
We Just Lost Our Hero..! It’s an incredibly BAD LOOK! The part timers WILL NEVER understand. It’s CLEAR that they have no skin in the game! Why would anybody listen to their dribble?
June 1st, 2026 at 12:09 pm
Baker had zero excuse for his Dec. performance…ZERO
GO BUCS
June 1st, 2026 at 12:11 pm
We MIGHT have won a couple more games but it’s hard to say with Bakers DEC play
GO BUCS