Mike Evans will not agree to a fourth Buccaneers contract. Instead, the greatest offensive player in franchise history is leaving Tampa after 12 seasons. The 49ers are adding Evans, NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo reports.
San Francisco is bringing in the future Hall of Famer on a three-year deal, per NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport. The Buccaneers have been among the best at retaining their own players under Jason Licht, and Evans’ agent confirms Tampa Bay made a “very strong offer.” But Evans will play for a second NFL team soon.
It is a three-year deal worth up to $60.4MM, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Evans was linked to a $20MM-per-year price recently, and while he may have fallen just short, this still represents a quality free agency conclusion for a soon-to-be 33-year-old receiver. An offer as high as $27MM per year may have emerged, Fox Sports’ Greg Auman offers. Evans could conceivably be more interested in fit at this stage of his career, having already played out two lucrative deals following his 2014 first-round accord.
Only Jerry Rice has more 1,000-yard seasons than Evans’ 11. While the 49ers wide receiver legend is in his own league for All-Pro honors (11), Evans is a two-time All-Pro whose most recent such honor came in 2023. A broken collarbone sidelined Evans for much of 2025, but prior to that, the 6-foot-5 wideout began with an NFL-record-smashing 11 straight seasons of 1,000 receiving yards to start a career.
The Bucs had kept Evans off the 2024 free agent market by giving him a two-year, $41MM deal; this time around, the team viewed its all-time leading receiver as having the right to hear other teams’ offers. The Bucs drafted Emeka Egbuka in Round 1 last year, doing so a month after re-signing Chris Godwin for a second time. They also have Jalen McMillan signed through 2027. But Evans’ departure will sting Tampa Bay’s offense, as he has more than a 5,000-yard lead on the second-leading receiver (Godwin) in franchise history.
The 49ers are soon to release Brandon Aiyuk — barring an unlikely 11th-hour trade agreement — after a strange 2025. San Francisco took the rare step of voiding Aiyuk’s guarantees, as his injury rehab veered off course from the team’s wishes, and the 2024 extension recipient became distant during a lost season. The 49ers then lost 2024 first-round pick Ricky Pearsall to multiple injuries, finishing the year with George Kittle suffering an Achilles tear. Jauan Jennings helped save this battered receiving corps, and while the 49ers want to retain the former seventh-round find, he is now a free agent.
Beginning his Bucs career before Jameis Winston‘s arrival, Evans worked with the erratic No. 1 overall pick for five seasons and became a key part of the team’s sales pitch to Tom Brady in 2020. Evans and Godwin helped convince Brady to join the Bucs, and the duo were pivotal during the franchise’s run to a Super Bowl LV win. After Antonio Brown‘s infamous walk-off, Evans continued to anchor the Bucs’ receiving corps and became a central reason for Baker Mayfield‘s rebound. It will be interesting to see if the Bucs go after a starter-level replacement or roll with Godwin, Egbuka and McMillan while allocating resources elsewhere.
Evans was connected to numerous teams in free agency. The Bills, Chargers, Commanders, Giants and Browns were among the suitors. The 49ers were on that list, however, with our Adam La Rose pegging this as a strong fit in his most recent mailbag. They will see if Evans can lift an offense that might be Kittle-less to open the 2026 season.
WOW.
It’s gonna be really interesting to see what Evans has left in the tank. He’s one of the best and most consistent WRs to ever play his position.
LFG!!! SO happy with this signing.
Ewwwwww…this just doesn’t fit. RUN First Short Pass Offense, Noodle Armed Wonder Shrimp QB Purdy, everything DOES NOT MATCH but The Injury Niners and Mike’s always hurt hammy’s.
You mean the noodle arm quarterback who is a league leader in downfield passing? Good call!!!
Lol what?
Whoa what a pickup
The red zone woes just got fixed. Evans and Kittle will be a lethal duo.
I don’t see Kittle coming back this upcoming year.
His tear was higher up so he is expected back earlier then most.
link to espn.com
Didn’t they have enough problems with injuries last season? Hope Evans can play 17 games but won’t be optimistic on that
I can’t see him playing 17. His hamstrings have been on going for years, he does not catch and run mostly catch and slide down avoiding contact. He will be there redzone guy though since they were pretty bad there.
sad day for bucs fans
They made a business decision. Mike was great but the key word is “was”. He’s past his prime and injury prone now. Would he be worth a 1 year deal at reasonable money to keep him around? Sure….but he def isn’t worth a 3 year deal for 60 million. Bucs have bigger needs than a #3 WR at 20 million per. (Egbuka and Godwin are # 1 and 2 with Evans current age/production).
There is no 32 year old receiver worth $20 million – or a 3 year deal.
Think it is a glorified 1 year maybe 2, similar to Diggs signing 3 and getting cut after 1.
100% … it’s only a 3 year deal for salary cap purposes.
Heart is broken as a Bucs fan. But I knew he was gone after that Falcon loss where he was caught yelling on sideline.
He gets hurt every year now and going to one of the most injured teams. I hope he does not suffer anything major there.
Hate to see all time greats not finish with their original team. I know it’s a business for both sides but it’s still hard to watch. As a Bucs fan, as much as I was happy getting Brady a couple of years ago, he should never have left the Patriots. Evan’s should have been a Buc for life!!
3rd and 28! He knows Bowles is a Joke of a Coach