Buccaneers Lose Mike Evans And I’m Sad

I just want to go to sleep. The Buccaneers had been having a pretty good day one of free agency. Made some low-key good moves, all of which I will talk about at the conclusion of this first day of free agency. But this article is all about sadness. For the first time in his career, Mike was looking at offers from other teams. And he apparently was seriously considering them. Now, he will be on the 49ers for what will likely be the end of his career.

One thing that didn’t leave to this exit was money. Evans signed a three year $60.5 million with San Fran, which is barely more than $20 mil a year. And the whole time reports kept coming out how the team was aggressive in trying to re-sign him. Which means it seems one likely conclusion can be drawn. He was down with this team. Yeah, a guy drafted in 2014 is now done with the Buccaneers. Bowles and co. was apparently the final straw. I don’t know if he hates Bowles, Baker, or Zac Robinson or all of them, but not the best endorsement of the team. Especially when you remember he specified he wanted to to go to a contender.

From the 49ers perspective, the fit makes sense. They had a pretty desperate need for WR, and Evans was arguably one of the best on the market, even at 34. However, he does have a pretty big problem. You can count on him to miss about three games with a hamstring issue. And for the 49ers, health has been the biggest thing that has hurt them. Substation theories aside, it seems like Shanahan’s team always has injury problems. When Evans on the field, he can provide a lot of value. The question for them will be how often he is on the field.

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Obviously this is a sad day for the franchise. It’s hard to watch a guy who has played for the team for 12 seasons go elsewhere. However, I do think the reaction has been slightly hyperbolic. I don’t think this is the worst day in franchise history. Remember this team lost 26 games in a row, drafted the wrong player because their owner cheaped out and had a bad connection, drafted a player that threatened to play baseball if he went there (and made true on that), and traded up in the second for a kicker. This is definitely one of the saddest days from a fan perspective, but this team has been through worse. The biggest thing that the team has to do is figure out the offense without Evan’s huge presence. He forces defenses to watch him and force them into certain coverages. The offense historically doesn’t operate well without him, especially since Baker was brought in. If Bowles doesn’t get the teams into contention, the fans will call for blood. Even more than they have been.