Report: Mike Evans 'trending toward' free agency after talks with Buccaneers

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are expected to let Mike Evans enter free agency next month. According to NFL insider Jordan Schultz, “both sides remain far apart” in the negotiations to get an extension done by Feb. 19. Tampa Bay will take on $7.4 million in dead money at the deadline, which they could have avoided with a renegotiated deal.

The Buccaneers will continue negotiating with Evans past the deadline, per Schultz, but the veteran wide receiver is still expected to become a free agent for the first time in his career.

Tampa Bay drafted Evans out of Texas A&M with the No. 7 overall pick in the first round of the 2014 NFL Draft. He inked a rookie deal for four years, $14.6 million, then the Buccaneers exercised his fifth-year option. The biggest deal of his career, Evans signed a five-year, $82.5 million extension in 2018 that is now set to run out in March.

By reaching 1,000 receiving yards in 2023, Evans has done it 10 times in a row – each year of his career in the league so far. Only two other wide receivers in NFL history can say they’ve had 10 consecutive 1,000-yard seasons – Randy Moss and Jerry Rice. Evans now trails Rice by just one season, but he was the first to do it in his first 10 seasons. Despite his consistency year-to-year, he’s only made four Pro Bowls in 10 seasons and earned second-team All-Pro once, in 2016.

More on the 2024 NFL offseason, free agency

The NFL 2024 calendar year begins at 4 p.m. ET on March 13. At that time, contracts running through 2023 officially run out, making those players free agents. Prior to the beginning of free agency, teams will have a chance to designate one franchise or transition tag player, starting on Feb. 20 at 4 p.m. ET and ending on March 5. Beginning March 11 through March 13 teams can enter into a legal negotiation with players who are will become unrestricted free agents.

In addition to NFL free agency, the new year also marks the beginning of all trades being made official by the league office. April 19 marks the deadline to sign restricted free agents to offer sheets. On April 24, the deadline for teams to match restricted free agent offers sheets hits. Following the restricted free agent deadline follows the 2024 NFL Draft, which runs from April 25-27.