Mike Evans could be donning a new jersey for the first time in his 13-year NFL career.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers brass noted this week that they're still interested in retaining the star wideout. However, Evans' agent, Deryk Gilmore, reiterated to Tom Krasniqi on this week that the wideout intends to see what his market looks like.
"I just think that he basically wants to look at all 32 teams," Gilmore said, . "I can't go out here and say, 'Oh, yeah. We're looking for a new team.' I mean, that hasn't been the mindset here. We basically just want to do an analysis. When you're making a business decision, you want to sit down, go through, do your checks and balances, make sure you evaluate everything you do, and then from there, when you're making a decision, you're not making an emotional decision. I think that's what we're trying to do. In the same way, we did that last time. We didn't make an emotional decision, and he ended back up in Tampa."
Evans is coming off an injury-plagued campaign, playing in just eight games and generating 30 catches for 368 yards and three touchdowns. It marked the wideout's first time below the 1,000-yard mark in his 12 seasons.
In hitting the market, Evans, who won a Super Bowl with Tampa in 2020, will prioritize the chance to win a second ring.
"I think this is a young man who loves, more than most fans probably understand, he loves to compete and to win. He loves to compete and to win," Gilmore said. "This is not him sitting there saying, 'I want to get paid' and all that stuff. You always want to get paid what you're worth. But that's not going to be on the [forefront]. We want to sit down and go through and be like, 'OK, where can he accomplish all his goals?' Which would be to win a Super Bowl, to break records. That's gonna be extremely important. The offense.
"For him to know that whoever is gonna be his play-caller, whoever is gonna be his coordinator, whoever is gonna be his quarterback, that they have the ability to really thrive and make things happen. We want to make sure that if something breaks down, we have a quarterback who is hopefully mature or experienced or has a history of winning. Someone who knows how to... I've looked at some of these quarterbacks out here. Some of them throw some really great balls. I really haven't studied anybody prior to this. Now I have. I think that's going to be important to Mike. That wherever he ends up, he can accomplish everything.
"But I will tell you this: There's no reason that Tampa can't hit every component that we want to hit."
A return to Tampa remains on the table, but the 32-year-old should have a significant market when free agency opens (Evans currently is NFL.com's No. 16 free agent). In a league with few X-receivers, the 6-foot-5 wideout remains a difference-making talent. If he doesn't return to the Bucs, the veteran believes the WR room he leaves will be just fine with Chris Godwin, Emeka Egbuka and Jalen McMillan leading the way.
"I will tell you this, something Mike wanted me to tell everybody from him. That wide receiver room has elite talent in it," Gilmore said. "There is so much talent at the wide receiver position there. There is a ton of talent. He loves the kids -- I hate to use the word kids, but they're all younger -- and he wants to see them thrive. I do know that."
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