Addressing the departure of longtime Buccaneers extensive receiver Mike Evans, common supervisor Jason Licht said the group provided the star player “a significantly higher” deal than the one he finally signed with the 49ers.
The six-time Pro Bowler signed a three-year, $42.5 million contract with the Niners, ending his 12-year run in Tampa Bay, despite an aggressive push by the Bucs to get the extensive receiver to keep in Florida.
“We made a significantly higher offer [than the 49ers] and that was just the first offer,” Licht informed reporters Wednesday, according to ESPN.
The feedback appear to point out that the Buccaneers would have been keen to proceed to negotiate to preserve Evans in the fold.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers extensive receiver Mike Evans runs during an NFL soccer sport between the Carolina Panthers and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Dec. 21, 2025, in Charlotte, N.C. AP
“I feel like we did everything we could,” Licht said. “I had a lot of talks with Mike about that. He and I have a very good, obviously good relationship, but we talked. … When a player’s reached his level for as long as he has, we tend to have deeper discussions with those players, and there was basically nothing we could have done differently. And I feel very strongly about that.”
Evans’ reps said that the choice “wasn’t about money” in a assertion launched after he signed with the Niners, and Evans himself reiterated that during his introductory press convention in San Francisco.
Licht, who drafted Evans in 2014, insisted that he wasn’t “betrayed” by the player’s choice, but described it as being “in mourning.”
Mike Evans of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers seems on prior to a sport against the Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium on December 21, 2025 in Charlotte, North Carolina. Getty Images
“Mike gave us everything he had for his 12 seasons here and established himself as one of the best players in the league,” Licht said. “So to say it again, one of our greatest gamers we’ve ever had — I don’t really feel betrayed. He earned the proper. I said that over and over. He earned the proper to make this choice.
“And sometimes you’ve got to talk it over with your family and just sometimes you’re just ready for another chapter.”
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