Evans reportedly heading to SF marks end of an era
Chris Simms and Mike Florio discuss the big move that saw Mike Evans reportedly land with the San Francisco 49ers, discussing the receiver's impact in Tampa Bay and his fit with Kyle Shanahan.
Video Transcript
Tuesday edition of PFT Live, the morning after the launch of free agency.
Mike Evans exiting the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after 12 seasons, first-round pick back in 2014, 11 straight 1,000-yard seasons.
That was a record to start a career, and it tied an all-time record with Jerry Rice.
Phenomenal player, helped win a Super Bowl, great in the community, came into the NFL as a very quiet and humble person.
He became a somewhat more outgoing and still very humble person later in his career.
The Buccaneers loved him.
The Buccaneers wanted to keep him.
But at the end of the day And look, I think they handled this as tactfully as they could.
They've got Chris Godwin that they're paying 22 million a year to.
They've got Emeka Egbuka.
There have been that hamstring issues in recent years, and there's just You know, it's the Belichick.
It's better to part ways one year too early than one year too late.
You're just taking a risk as you get deeper and deeper into your 30s.
And I just wonder, I mean, I know they're gonna say all the right things, just, like, did they think it was time as well?
Yeah.
And I wonder if Mike Evans just sensed from them that even though they're gonna say all the right things, and they don't wanna be the bad guys in all this, and they don't want the perception to be that they're pushing him off, do you sense from him, from them, by him, that maybe it was time?
Either way, this is one that lingered.
There was a lot of confusion.
I think it was a, a fight to maybe get the money that they got.
Yeah.
He chooses to go to San Francisco, and just by virtue of the fact that the numbers are kind of all over the place, there were multiple reports that one team had offered him more than 27 million a year on a one-year deal, and then the deal comes in initially at three years, 60 million, and you've got other places out there putting it as low as 14 million.
Like, what's the truth on the Mike Evans deal?
We're gonna find it out.
Yeah.
We're gonna find it out, and the harder they try to hide it, the more determined I'm gonna be to find it.
It could be that this just isn't a very good deal, and that the 49ers got a bargain, the flip side of what the Raiders did.
Mike Evans wanted to play for the 49ers, wants to chase another championship and didn't care about the money.
Yeah, and then they need somebody.
And, and he's in a spot where he goes, "Wait, culture's good.
They know how to get receivers open," and, and I think all the things that you just said there, too.
It, it felt like it was a soft breakup, an easy letdown.
Tampa was, was ready to move on, and I, we understand that.
Like you said, I mean, there's, there's, there's injuries.
He's 32 years old.
We know at that position it can fall off in a hurry.
It, it can take one year, and you go, "Whoa, he's remarkably a different you know, remarkably different than he was last year."
And then the year after that, you go, "Whoa, that's, that's, he's, he's lost another step."
So that, that's where it's risky.
That's where I would be surprised if it's $20 million a year.
I'm interested to see that as well.
But, and on top of that, Evans, he's not known for being the most intricate route runner.
He's a guy that, yeah, you're gonna put him on the outside.
He's gonna run go routes.
He's gonna run routes down the football field.
It's not gonna be a lot of, like, stop, break, break another way, stop, break, go this way, then break out that way.
That's not who he is.
The 49ers had a need for that type of guy there.
Brandon Aiyuk's done, we know that.
Mike Evans knows how to play big body receiver.
I think that's where it makes sense for the 49ers, and, and I understand it from Mike Evans.
But yeah, I don't know if I believe all those numbers and hype out there that was going around, this conversation yesterday.
And hey, man, somebody was working someone yesterday.
I'm not gonna name names.
I, I don't need any more enemies than I already have, although my other attitude is bring them on, who cares?
I'm old enough to not give a shit anymore.
But it sure felt like somebody was pushing someone who had access to a camera and a microphone to hype the hell out of Mike Evans.
When I heard a suggestion that he could go to the Rams, like, what the what are you talking about?
The Rams?
With Puka Nacua and DeVonta Adams, they're gonna wedge Mike Evans into that, and it's gonna, and it's gonna be a good thing?
Like, I, so, you know, we see it with the draft.
We see it, we see it all the time now in media.
There's relationships out there and different people.
D- sometimes they're just useful idiots, and they don't even know they're doing it, but they're pushing different people, they're hyping different people.
And, and I know part of it is they're trying to entertain.
But- But he's a big name I mean, there's also, like- Yeah or yeah, I mean, but there's also, like, are we trying to be honest with our audience?
Are we just trying to shake pom-poms and, and, you know, here's flashy objects, and let's just, let's just keep them let's keep them confused and impressed and entertained, and who cares about what the actual reality is?
And the reality is he's 32 years old.
He's got a bulky hamstring that seems to grab, you know, more and more often the older he gets.
And, you know, and the fact that the final numbers are- Yes are elusive.
All over the place.
Yes.
It just, it tells me there was something going on here where, you know And it could just be the agent realized, "Mike's determined to go to San Francisco.
I got to do everything I can to get the best possible contract," 'cause he's just determined to go.
And, you know, once a team knows that a guy wants to be there, they're not gonna give him more money, they're gonna give him less.
Yeah, yeah.
It, it's, and it, it's sad.
It's an end of an era.
That's, that's what stinks about the salary cap and, and everything there, because h- he, he's an icon in Tampa.
He's one of the most well-liked guys in the history of the organization.
If you've ever been, Mike, around Mike Evans, they don't come any nicer.
He's as good as they g- good as they come, and it's natural, and it's easy, and he cares about the sport, and he cares about people, and that's the lasting impact he'll have in Tampa Bay.
As lo- as long as being the greatest receiver in the history of Tampa Bay Buccaneers and one of the greatest players in the history of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a guy that will be up there, you know, on the side of the stadium with Warren Sapp and Ronde Barber and Jon Gruden and everybody.
by the way- Yeah by the way, welcome to California, where you're gonna pay 13.3% state income tax.
And, and look, that, on one hand, that issue doesn't get discussed enough.
On the other hand, it's not applicable to your entire pay.
The way it works is for your home games, and I assume signing bonuses, like the big picture bonuses that are paid out to start the year, that's all run through whatever state you're living in.
For your road games, you have to pay income tax in the state where the road games are, are played.
Could you imagine doing the taxes for a guy who's playing nine road games a year- Yeah and he's playing in all these different states?
You gotta do a tax return here, tax return there- Different countries tax return there.
Yeah, yeah.
And it's a significant, and it's a significant figure.
When you're looking at a game check, and it's more than most people in that state make in a year.
Yeah.
And you were there one day.
Yeah.
It's crazy.
So- It is crazy but, but still, it's better Overall, there's a net benefit, obviously, to being located as your home team in a state that doesn't have state income tax, and Mike Evans gave that up in Florida, and he's embraced it in California.
you know, and, and as Devin McCourty says, guys just care about APY.
It is amazing.
But I think in this case, Evans didn't care about APY.
Evans wanted to go to the 49ers, and, he's getting his wish he, he get- is what it comes down to he gets to go to the 49ers.
They're a good football team.
They got a offensive genius running the show in Shanahan, and a real need to where I think he knows, like, "Wait, wait.
They, I, they need me.
They gotta have me, and I'm gonna have a vital role within this offense right next to Ricky Pearsall.
It's gonna be us two."
We, we don't know what hap- gonna happen with Jauan Jennings.
He's a free agent out there.
But yeah, y- you go to a spot where you know it's a winner, and you know you're gonna be a staple of the offense and a good offense at that with a good quarterback.
At this point of his career, yeah, I could see him being very content with, with his, you know, situation yesterday
