September 9: Confirming the expectations set up yesterday afternoon, Adam Schefter of ESPN has reported that the Buccaneers will officially not be meeting Evans’ player-imposed deadline for a contract extension. Several reports, including those of ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, indicate that Tampa Bay is not expected to trade Evans and will let him play out his contract year and head for free agency in the offseason.

Even at age 31, Evans is set to be a priority free agent after topping 1,000 yards receiving in every single season of his nine-year career in Tampa Bay. If he can deliver another strong outing catching passes from the arms of Mayfield and, potentially, Kyle Trask, it should secure at least one more strong contract for the Bucs’ all-time leading receiver.

September 8: Mike Evans gave the Buccaneers a Saturday deadline to finalize an extension, but after a multiyear stretch without a known offer coming the Pro Bowl wide receiver’s way, it never looked like the team would meet that deadline. It does not appear the Bucs will.

The team does not have plans to extend Evans at this time, The Athletic’s Dianna Russini tweets. This could bring a quicker-than-expected end to Evans’ tenure with the franchise. While Evans has expressed hope of staying in Tampa throughout his career, the Bucs’ all-time leading receiver certainly could become a trade candidate. It would be unlikely the team would cuff him with the franchise tag ahead of his age-31 season.

[RELATED: Evans Addresses Buccaneers Future]

Although Russini notes the Bucs still value Evans — their all-time receiving leader by a wide margin — the team would have until October 31 to unload him in a trade. The Bucs will use Evans to see if Baker Mayfield can bounce back from two forgettable seasons, but his name seems all but certain to come up in trade rumors. Evans is going into his age-30 season and holds a record no one else has approached. Evans’ nine 1,000-yard seasons are two more than any other pass catcher has ripped off to start a career. Evans’ consistency aside, it does not look like he will collect a third contract from the Bucs.

Tampa Bay extended Evans on a five-year, $82.5MM deal in 2018; the receiver market has changed substantially since that point. Evans’ AAV came in behind only Antonio Brown‘s second Steelers extension at the time of signing; it has dropped to 17th. Far less accomplished receivers have passed Evans, including his own teammate. The Bucs extended Chris Godwin on a three-year, $60MM deal in 2022, doing so after applying a second franchise tag. At 27, Godwin is three years younger than Evans. While Godwin’s long-term place with the post-Tom Brady Bucs is uncertain as well, he is a much better bet to be back in 2024 compared to Evans.

Prior to landing Evans with the No. 7 overall pick, the Bucs had not had much luck finding a long-term wide receiver staple. Veterans like Vincent Jackson, Keenan McCardell and Joey Galloway helped the cause during stretches earlier this century, but Evans checked in as a reliable outside target from the jump. Brady and Jameis Winston utilized Evans as a go-to target, and the Texas A&M alum will enter this season with 10,425 receiving yards. No one else has topped 6,000 as a Buccaneer.

Evans stands to be a big name in free agency, potentially on his way to the market after this year featured a modest class. A team that trades for Evans would have exclusive negotiating rights until next year’s legal tampering period. Despite GM Jason Licht saying he wanted Evans around long term earlier this summer, the Bucs’ exclusive negotiating rights have not produced an agreement. The Bucs also lost Russell Gage, moving sixth-round rookie Trey Palmer into a more prominent spot. UDFAs Rakim Jarrett and Deven Thompkins are the only other wideouts on Tampa Bay’s roster.

The Jets could make sense as an Evans suitor, ESPN.com’s Rich Cimini writes. New York losing Corey Davis to a mid-training camp retirement and having some questions behind WR1 Garrett Wilson could make them an interested party. Other teams will surely call the Bucs as well in what could be one of the more interesting receiver trade markets in recent memory.

Time is running out for the Buccaneers and Mike Evans to work out an extension before the latter’s self-imposed negotiating deadline. Plenty of progress remains to be made to get a deal done in that span, leaving his future in Tampa Bay beyond 2023 in question.

The two sides have until tomorrow to reach an agreement on a new pact, with attention shifting to the new campaign after that point. One year remains on Evans’ current deal, and both team and player have expressed a desire to continue their relationship for years to come. When speaking publicly about his financial situation, though, the 30-year-old did not repeat the sentiment that he is looking to continue playing in Tampa beyond this season.

“Ownership and management are going to do what they feel is best for the team and the team in the future, and I’m going to do what’s best for me and my future,” the former first-rounder said, via ESPN’s Jenna Laine. “And right now, that’s just playing some good ball.”

Evans is reportedly seeking a deal similar to the three-year, $80.1MM contract the Rams gave Cooper Kupp after his triple crown winning season in 2021. Evans’ track record of consistent success (highlighted by his nine consecutive 1,000-yard campaigns to begin his career, an unprecedented run in NFL history in that regard) will likely not be enough to earn him such a commitment from the Buccaneers. Signficant cap constraints are present for the now Tom Brady-less outfit in 2023 and the future, so a pricey investment investment in a veteran would need to be weighed carefully against efforts to free up money for the team’s younger core players.

Tampa Bay also has a $20MM-per-year commitment at the receiver spot in the form of Chris Godwin. The 27-year-old was among the Buccaneers personnel who expressed optimism that a deal keeping Evans in the fold would pay dividends for all involved. It is increasingly unlikely that one will be worked out in the immediate future, though, something Evans in acutely aware of.

“Obviously we’ve been working with them for over a year now, trying to get something done,” he added. “Any player in my position would want to be secure… I don’t know. We got a little bit of time left, but we’ll see.”

The Buccaneers have been discussing an extension with their longest-tenured starter since early this summer. While the team is transitioning from the Tom Brady period, agreements with pillars acquired before the legendary quarterback’s arrival took place this offseason.

Tampa Bay re-signed Jamel Dean and Lavonte David, doing so despite sitting well above the salary cap entering the offseason. Brady’s $35.1MM dead-money charge, brought about from the void years the franchise tacked on for cap purposes, hamstrung the Bucs. But they have managed to retain key players. They want Mike Evans to join that list.

The contract Evans signed back in March 2018 has been passed over by many receivers over its duration. At the time, the $16.5MM AAV made Evans the NFL’s highest-paid wide receiver. Illustrating this position’s importance in the modern game, that number now sits 17th among wideouts. Evans’ less accomplished teammate, Chris Godwin, passed him amid the 2022 receiver market boom. Godwin signed a three-year, $60MM extension after the Bucs franchise-tagged him for a second time.

Due to the increasingly void years-reliant Bucs tacking three such years onto Evans’ deal via restructures, the team would be hit with a $12.2MM dead-money charge if Evans is not re-signed by the start of the 2024 league year. Naturally, the Bucs want to avoid that scenario.

“I can’t see Mike playing anywhere else,” Licht said, via The Athletic’s Dan Pompei (subscription required). “I hope and think we can figure something out so he can retire a Buc. We want Mike to be here long term.”

Squarely on the Hall of Fame radar after becoming the first receiver to start his career with nine consecutive 1,000-yard seasons, Evans is going into his age-30 season. He should not be considered a candidate to eclipse Tyreek Hill‘s $30MM AAV — a number that will likely soon be surpassed, as Justin Jefferson aims for a Vikings extension — but the Bucs will likely need to authorize a raise for a player entering his 10th season.

Evans totaled 27 touchdown receptions from 2020-21, but as Brady and the offense regressed last year, he finished with just six scores — his fewest since 2017. But the 6-foot-5 target has remained durable, missing more than one game in a season on only two occasions (three absences in 2019, two last year). Suspensions have also brought on some of those misses for the Marshon Lattimore nemesis.

The Texas A&M alum will be a vital piece for the post-Brady Bucs, who are still deciding between Baker Mayfield and Kyle Trask. With Antoine Winfield Jr. also a 2024 free agent (and an extension candidate), the Bucs will have some decisions to make soon. The Bucs have done well in letting players play out their contract years before re-signing them. Dean, David, Carlton Davis, Shaquil Barrett and Ryan Jensen are a number of recent examples of Licht and Co. retaining players despite those talents reaching the open market. The void-years component complicates the Bucs following suit with Evans, but a third contract for the greatest wideout in team history has been on the radar for a bit now.

An extension for Mike Evans has been under consideration for much of the offseason in Tampa Bay, and finalizing one would prolong his tenure with the team and generate immediate salary cap benefits. Talks could produce an agreement in the near future.

ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler notes that an extension for the Pro Bowl wideout could be worked out by the end of training camp. Doing so would be beneficial for team and player given the $23.69MM cap hit he is set to carry for the 2023 season. Mutual interest is believed to exist to strike a deal in this case, something Evans recently confirmed.

“Finishing my career with one team, that would be awesome to do that,” he said. “I’m sure they want that, and I want it as well. Hopefully we can get an extension. Would be good for both parties.”

Evans is entering his age-30 season, but his remarkable consistency makes him a logical candidate for another new deal. The former first-rounder’s five-year, $82.5MM pact proved to be a worthwhile investment as Evans continued his career-long streak of recording 1,000 or more yards in each campaign. Flattening out his 2023 cap hit while ensuring he will remain with the Buccaneers as they begin the post-Tom Brady era at quarterback would provide stability for the transitioning team.

Still, Tampa already has one $20MM-per-year commitment at the WR spot with Chris Godwin; no team has two such deals at the position. Any Evans extension would also eat into the more than $27MM in cap space Tampa is currently scheduled to have next year, spending power which will be welcomed after dealing with a league-leading $75MM in dead money this season.

For the time being, at least, Evans will be counted on as a focal point of the Buccaneers’ offense as the team sorts out its situation under center. It remains unclear whether Baker Mayfield or Kyle Trask will earn the Week 1 starting job, but either passer will no doubt lean heavily on Evans during the season. Whether the latter has a new deal in place by the start of the campaign will be a key storyline to follow in the coming days and weeks.

The Buccaneers offense will look a whole lot different moving forward, but the front office is looking to maintain some continuity at receiver. According to Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times, the Buccaneers and wide receiver Mike Evans have already started discussions on an extension.

Stroud adds that there’s “a willingness on both sides to get something done this summer.” Evans inked a five-year, $82.5MM extension with the Buccaneers back in 2018, and he’s set to earn more than $23.6MM in the final year of the pact in 2023.

With Tom Brady out of the picture and the Buccaneers facing an uncertain future at quarterback, it’s not a surprise that the organization wants to transition to the next offensive era with their all-time receiving leader. Evans has hauled in at least 1,000 receiving yards in each of his nine NFL seasons, and through the first four years of his current contract, he’s averaged 72 catches for 1,080 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns per season.

The Buccaneers signed Chris Godwin to a three-year, $60MM extension ($40MM guaranteed) last offseason. Considering the money that’s being thrown around at the position, Evans would surely top a $20MM average annual value. As CBS Sports’ Joel Corry points out on Twitter, that type of contract would mean the Buccaneers would join the Chargers as the only teams to be paying two wide receivers more than $20MM/yr.

Stroud points to the five-year, $140MM deal that Davante Adams signed with the Raiders as a potential landing spot for Evans’ next deal. It sounds like Evans is motivated to stick around Tampa, and that could lead to a slight hometown discount when all is said and done (although that’s just speculation on my part).

“Mike loves Tampa,” Evans’ agent, Deryk Gilmore, told Stroud. “I know the feeling is mutual. His production is the best of all the guys out there. … The Bucs’ ownership has to love that Mike isn’t even an off-the-field conversation but an on-the-field terror. I’ve got to think they would like to lock him up to a third deal.”

The Buccaneers will be without Mike Evans against the Packers in Week 3. Appeals officer James Thrash upheld the one-game suspension handed to Evans for his actions in New Orleans.

This will be Evans’ second suspension. Both came after he shoved Saints cornerback Marshon Lattimore during games in New Orleans. Like he did after being suspended in 2017, Evans appealed. Five years after his previous appeal effort failed, Evans will sit another game. He missed a Week 10 game against the Jets in 2017. It is safe to say the four-time Pro Bowler’s next absence will be slightly more noticeable, given the Bucs’ Tom Brady-era status as one of the league’s highest-profile teams.

For the Bucs, it will likely mean having neither Evans nor Chris Godwin available this week. Godwin continues to battle a hamstring injury, and while it is not certain Evans’ longtime tandem partner will be out, a multiweek absence was expected.

This will be an adjustment for Brady, who has been without Evans just once during his Tampa tenure. Evans missed the Bucs’ Week 16 game against the Panthers last season. While Godwin had sustained an ACL tear the previous week, the Bucs still had Antonio Brown and Rob Gronkowski at that point. Brown’s in-game actions the following week against the Jets led him out of the picture, but Evans had returned by that point. Gronkowski retired for a second time this offseason.

Tampa Bay played without Julio Jones in New Orleans last week. The recently signed wideout missed Week 2 with a knee injury. Jones returning against Green Bay obviously becomes a more important matter now. The Bucs have Scotty Miller and Breshad Perriman in place as their next men up. Cole Beasley officially joined Tampa Bay’s practice squad Wednesday. The 10-year veteran can be elevated ahead of the Bucs’ Week 3 game, should the team elect to do so.

Evans missed a rookie-contract game check in 2017. Although he remains attached to an extension he signed in 2018, the former top-10 pick will not miss out on too much money. Due to an offseason restructure that dropped Evans’ base salary to $1.12MM, the ninth-year receiver will lose out on just more than $62K because of this suspension.