Buccaneers and WR Mike Evans officially will not be extending his deal by today’s player-imposed deadline, per league sources. Evans now will be playing on the last year of his contract and plans to explore his free-agent options in 2024.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 9, 2023
Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans and his agent set a Saturday deadline to extend him, and that deadline will officially not be met.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Saturday that the Bucs will not extend Mike Evans by his self-established deadline of Sept. 9. Evans is not holding out and intends to play the 2023 season with the Buccaneers, but what happens in the future is a different story.
Evans’ agent specified in his open letter that he and Evans would no longer talk to Tampa Bay about a contract extension should the deadline not be met. Now that it has not, whether or not Evans and his agent intend to follow through with that negotiating tactic remains to be seen. Evans is set to become a free agent in 2024.
If the Bucs think Evans and his agent are bluffing, they can wait until the end of the season to see how he performs before opening up conversations again. If Tampa Bay thinks they aren’t bluffing, trading him before 2023’s trade deadline would likely be the best option — because he will have played 10 seasons at the end of this year, Evans will only command a 5th-round compensatory pick if he leaves in free agency.
Regardless of what happens in the future, Evans will certainly be a Buccaneer on Sunday when the team takes on the Minnesota Vikings at 1 p.m. for its season opener Sunday.
