When the Buccaneers took wide receiver Mike Evans with the seventh overall pick of the 2014 draft, the hope was that he’d become a highly productive part of their offense.
Evans has accomplished that. He’s third in team history in catches and receiving yards and second in receiving touchdowns after his first four NFL seasons and should hold every team record in the book before too much more time passes. That assumes, of course, that Evans does not leave for another team before climbing all of the charts in Tampa.
Evans is heading into the final year of his contract after the Bucs exercised their team option for 2018 and Evans’ agent Deryk Gilmore said they haven’t had any talks about tacking on more years yet.
“We’re not doing any negotiating. We’re just going to wait and play it out,” Gilmore said, via PewterReport.com. “We think that the Buccaneers are a great organization. We feel that they really care about Mike; they care about the direction of the franchise and where it’s going. ... He’s under contract so what we like to do is let him finish up. We think [Evans’ stats and records] will speak for itself, and when it comes time to do the deal I think his deal will be in-line with what we plan.”
Whether it happens this offseason or next, that plan likely calls for Evans to sign a deal that puts him among the best-paid receivers in the league along with Antonio Brown and DeAndre Hopkins.