According to Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times, the Buccaneers and star wide receiver Mike Evans have apparently struck a deadlock in their contract negotiations.
Following the breakdown in contract negotiations between the 30-year-old and the team where he has spent his entire NFL career, Stroud says that it will “likely” be Evans’ final season in Tampa Bay.
According to Stroud, Evans was reportedly looking for a new deal that was comparable to the three-year, $81 million contract Cooper Kupp inked with the Rams in June 2022.
Evans contract Impasse explained
Evans now has one season remaining on a five-year, $82.5 million deal that he signed in 2018. Next year, he will become an unrestricted free agent. He will have a cap hit of more than $23 million in 2023.
Evans has been a member of the Buccaneers since they selected him with the seventh overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draftt. He has never played in fewer than 13 games in a season and is the only wide receiver in NFL history to have recorded 1,000+ receiving yards in each of his first nine seasons.
Despite his tenure and reliability for the team, the two parties have been unable to agree on a new contract.