EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsTAMPA, Fla. -- It was Jan. 3, 2025. Tampa Bay Buccaneers fans at Raymond James Stadium were jumping up and down. Some even wept.It was a moment that coach Todd Bowles said was one of the best of his coaching career.The occasion marked future Pro Football Hall of Fame wide receiver Mike Evans hitting 1,000 receiving yards in a season for the 11th consecutive time to equal Jerry Rice's record -- with teammates dousing Evans with water in a postgame locker room celebration that coincided with another NFC South title.Evans said of re-signing with the team that offseason, "I probably was never going to leave Tampa anyway," adding, "I definitely made the right decision."Fast-forward to March 2026, and Evans is gone after 12 years in pewter and red -- agreeing to terms with the San Francisco 49ers a little over two hours after the league's free agent negotiation window opened on Monday. He signed a three-year deal worth up to $60.4 million.Evans exits as Tampa Bay's all-time leader in scoring (662 points), receptions (866), receiving yards (13,052), receiving touchdowns (108), total touchdowns (109), 100-yard receiving games (43) and 1,000-yard receiving seasons (11).When he first inked his last deal in March 2024, Evans said, "Obviously, it's been well-known that I wanted to be a [Buccaneer] for my whole career. It's very rare to stay with one team for the entirety of your career, and that's something that was a goal of mine. This is one step closer to one of my biggest goals."He didn't even test the waters, agreeing to terms seven days before free agency began. When Evans was asked about not entertaining offers from other teams at that time, he said, "It was a cool dream, but Tampa is my home -- it's where I've always wanted to be. We got a great deal -- my agents got a great deal done with [general manager Jason Licht]. I couldn't pass up on it. I look forward to being a [Buccaneer] for life."Now, Evans will don the uniform Rice wore for 16 seasons. But even Rice didn't spend his entire career with one team, playing 3 seasons for the then-Oakland Raiders and a half-season with the Seattle Seahawks.Evans' departure raises questions about what went wrong for the six-time Pro Bowler, who served as a beacon of hope for a franchise that went 34-62 (.354) in the six years prior to winning a second Lombardi Trophy in 2020 with Tom Brady at quarterback."When I first got here, Mike was one of the first to just come up to me and say what's up," running back Bucky Irving said. "You never know how those guys really are because you're on the outside looking in -- just being able to see how humble he is every day."You never see him get too high, you never see him get too low, but just being able to watch him and see how he grows each and every day. It's a blessing to be around someone that I can probably tell my family or kids one day that I played with one of the greatest to ever do it."Bowles and Licht said at last month's combine that Evans "earned the right" to hear what other teams had to say. Evans' agents, Deryk Gilmore and Darren Jones, said the Bucs were "extremely aggressive" in their pursuit and presented a "very strong offer" that demonstrated how much they valued him, while also emphasizing that this "was never about money."What it came down to, as they put it, was Evans wanting a "new challenge" and a "fresh opportunity." They cited his desire to compete for another Super Bowl and to play in an offense that "challenges defenses" and allows him to "contribute at the highest level."What the statement from Evans' agents didn't include was his frustration in having one of the best training camps of his career at age 32 before suffering a broken collarbone and undergoing surgery -- a first in his pro career -- and having to rehab his body to return in time for a playoff push in Week 15 just to see it all fall apart in demoralizing fashion.The Bucs needed just one more win to get to the playoffs and to clinch the NFC South but fell short. They blew a 14-point fourth-quarter lead to the Atlanta Falcons, losing a heartbreaker 29-28.Evans, who had 132 receiving yards in that game, was so distraught that he slammed his helmet into the wall of the tunnel coming off the field and could be heard shouting "third-and-28!" -- which was the down and distance with 1:20 to go. The Bucs allowed Kirk Cousins to complete a 14-yard pass to tight end Kyle Pitts Sr. and on fourth-and-14, a 21-yard pass to wide receiver David Sills V."You never want to take things for granted when you have a guy like Mike that has been injured, wants to come back, wants to help his team out and you feel that competitive nature from him -- that fire -- it just demands everybody to raise their standards," quarterback Baker Mayfield said after the Falcons loss. "We love that Mike is vocal about it. He obviously expects greatness out of himself and expects people to rise to the occasion as well, so yeah, need him to keep doing that."The season marked the first time that the Bucs missed the playoffs since the Super Bowl win in the 2020 season, but 2020 also marked the first time that Tampa Bay had reached the playoffs in Evans' career. Players like Emeka Egbuka, Jalen McMillan and Tez Johnson will be left to help fill the void, as well as Evans' longtime running mate Chris Godwin Jr."[I have] never seen a guy so consistent in my life -- other than my pops," said Johnson, who just finished his rookie year. "He is so consistent. He comes in every day and does the exact same thing. ... You see a guy like that, and you get to walk into the locker room with him every day -- he is coaching you up -- and you do not take it for granted. He is one of those guys that you need to be around if you are a rookie."He is by far a Hall of Famer, 100%."
