There were some nervous moments surrounding the future of receiver Mike Evans and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Even the most confident folks around the Buccaneers would have to admit to feeling a little on edge about the whole ordeal as the calendar moved toward the open negotiating period. Fortunately, however, they won't have to ever admit it.
After Tampa Bay and Evans finally agreed to a deal two years in the making, everyone who cares about the future of the franchise is happy and ready to move forward.
And Over The Cap is giving the team a 'B+' for the contract the Bucs landed on when it was all said and done.
"The numbers and reports have been all over the place on (Evans's) contract, but it seems as if the $41 million base value is the legit number which is on the lower end of what I would have expected for Evans," says OTC. "While some may say this is a hometown discount there are incentives that are reachable if Evans continues his 1,000-yard streak that do increase the value so really this plays out more as a "we'll only pay you top market money if you have another top season".
The Bucs left themselves more than enough wiggle room if things go south to renegotiate his salary down in 2025. This is also far less than he would have gotten had he been tagged. The only negative for them is I don't know why they waited for his last contract to void to get a contract done. They would have benefitted from the additional cap room this year rather than having all of those cap charges accelerate. Other than that this is a pretty solid deal."
With Evans' deal done, safety Antoine Winfield Jr. franchise tagged, and quarterback Baker Mayfield's new contract also agreed to Sunday afternoon, it looks like the Buccaneers are getting at least most of the band back.
With just around $14 million remaining in cap space before Mayfield's deal, it's going to be really interesting to see the final numbers on the contract, and how that grades out in the eyes of those who analyze salary caps for a living.
More must-reads: