Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans has agreed to a five-year, $82.5MM extension that includes $55MM in overall guarantees, sources tell ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter (on Twitter). Evans is now under contract with the Bucs through the 2023 season. The deal also includes incentives that can push the deal’s overall value to nearly $96MM, according to CBSSports.com’s Jason La Canfora. Evans gets $38.3MM in full guarantees at signing, per The MMQB’s Albert Breer (Twitter link). 
Before the deal, Evans was slated to reach the open market after the 2018 season. The new deal ensures that Evans will be part of the team for years to come while also making him one of the league’s highest-paid players at his position.
We’ll have to wait for the complete breakdown of the contract before stacking it up against the league’s other top-paid WRs, but here’s what we do know: Evans is now second amongst all receivers in terms of average annual value, trailing only Antonio Brown ($17MM/year). In terms of total value, Evans is the new king with a deal that just edges DeAndre Hopkins‘ five-year, $81MM deal with the Texans from last summer.
Evans also takes the top spot amongst all WRs in full guarantees. His $38.3MM guaranteed at signing bests Hopkins ($36.5MM), Julio Jones ($35.5MM), and Demaryius Thomas ($35MM).
According to La Canfora, Evans will get $55MM in injury guarantees, which bests Calvin Johnson‘s deal to become a new all-time high for WRs. He also has $38.3MM in guarantees over the first two years, per JLC. The deal includes a $1.5MM bonus in the final year that will force the Bucs to decide on his future prior to the start of the 2023 season.
Of course, the deal bodes well for other wide receivers waiting for their paydays, including Giants superstar Odell Beckham Jr. ODB is reportedly seeking a deal in excess of $100MM and he is expected to top Evans despite missing the bulk of the 2017 season.
This is a huge contract but now obj definitely gonna get 20 a year because he is way better. On a unrelated note who hopes the jags get on hard knocks
OBJ’s gotta stay healthy, though.
Not really. Odell has 14 less games than Evans, and in that time, he has 4 more catches, 155 less yards and 6 more tds.
Dude is going to get paid.
Jags would be cool. It’s such a great show I’m watching no matter who it is
Oh, and by the way, F U LeVeon Bell. This is what happens when you keep your fat yapper shut and play the game. Try being a consummate teammate, and not a loud mouth egomaniac.
Hmm relevant to the article. The closest this article even comes to mentioning Bell is the mention of Antonio Brown his teammate. But you’re right…he doesn’t do enough for his team right? He’s only one of the best RBs in the league and puts up receiving numbers like a wide receiver. He’s not getting paid because he wants WR1 money (which, based off of his receiving stats, isn’t an unreasonable asking price). The Steelers are willing to pay him close to that (in terms of AAV) but don’t want to give him significant guarantees.
You said it yourself, he’s “one of” the best…so is Mike Evans…but let’s be honest: it’s a passing league, and the mileage is piling up on Bell. My point was: shut up, play, and either retire like he threatened, or file a complaints with the PA so they can nix the Franchise Tag during the next Collective Bargaining.
But how is he not being a consummate teammate? He missed all of training camp and the Steelers didn’t seem to miss a beat during the season. The whole anthem thing and Big Ben’s retirement talk seemed to have more of an impact in the locker room than Bell not being there/his contract issues. And you’re proving my point. Bell is one of the best RBs in the league AND one of the best pass-catching threats (RBs, WRs, and TEs) in the league. It is a passing league which only boosts Bell’s value. He wants to get paid like a WR1 when he’s the workhorse RB and the second best receiver on the team behind Antonio Brown (who happens to be the best receiver in the league). His rushing stats are in line with RB1s and his receiving stats are just barely off WR1 numbers despite primarily coming out of the backfield.
Mike Evans is a really good receiver! doesnt always make the great one handed catches but is a huge receiver!
He’s like a yo-yo, up, down, up, down. He’s not worth $55m guaranteed.
I don’t see Evans as an up-and-down player. I see the quarterback that is throwing to Evans as the up-and-down player. give Evans a more consistent quarterback like some of the other great wide receivers have. And then we’ll see what his numbers look like.
^^. Evans is a huge red zone threat and can run all the routes. His up-and-downs has more to do with Winston’s inconsistency than Evans being inconsistent.