Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans could one day be inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame.
In this era of player empowerment, it’s getting rarer and rarer for players to spend their entire careers with one franchise. But much like former Cleveland Browns offensive lineman Joe Thomas, that could be the case with Evans.
Speaking to Dan Pompei of The Athletic, Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht sent a clear message about how he views Evans’ future with the franchise.
“I can’t see Mike playing anywhere else,” Licht said. “I hope and think we can figure something out so he can retire a Buc. We want Mike to be here long term.”
Evans is in the final year of his contract, making $13 million. As noted by Pro Football Talk, the question becomes “whether someone else will make a sizable offer to Evans after 10 NFL seasons.”
For now, Licht expects Evans to factory prominently in the Buccaneers’ offense.
“I expect him to get a lot of targets,” Licht told Pompei. “His production could go up in terms of volume. I can tell these quarterbacks both really like Mike a lot.”
Evans stands ready to contribute no matter if it’s Baker Mayfield or Kyle Trask that wins the starting job with the unenviable task of replacing Tom Brady.
“Twenty, 30 years from now, I want people to look back and say, ‘He was a bad mother,'” Evans told The Athletic.
If Evans can find chemistry with the new starting quarterback, the Buccaneers almost certainly make a push for the playoffs.
