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It has finally been confirmed that veteran wide receiver Mike Evans will return to the club he has played for throughout his NFL career, despite a lot of talk over the past few weeks that he would be considering a move to a championship-contending team.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Evans, who was scheduled to become a free agent next week, have reportedly reached an agreement on a two-year, $52 million contract that includes $35 million in guaranteed money, according to early Monday morning reports from ESPN's Adam Schefter.
Evans has agreed to a two-year contract that will pay him an average of $26 million yearly, which is the fifth highest of any wide receiver in the NFL, behind only Tyreek Hill of the Miami Dolphins, Davante Adams of the Las Vegas Raiders, Cooper Kupp of the Los Angeles Rams, and A.J. Brown of the Philadelphia Eagles.
Now that it's official, the Buccaneers have cleverly secured one of their most valuable assets in recent memory before the start of free agency. Now that Mike Evans’ contract issue is out of the way, the Bucs can now focus on re-signing quarterback Baker Mayfield, who led the team to a postseason run in 2023.
Mike Evans has played his first ten seasons with the Bucs after being chosen as the seventh overall choice in the first round of the 2014 NFL Draft. The 30-year-old receiver has been a representation of reliability over his entire time in Tampa Bay, logging at least 1,000 receiving yards in each of his first ten seasons. Additionally, he is only six touchdowns away from reaching 100 touchdowns in his career. Evans was a part of Tampa Bay's 2021 Super Bowl-winning team as well.
Mike Evans was selected for his fifth Pro Bowl after finishing the 2023 season with 79 receptions for 1,255 yards and a league-high 13 touchdowns. He also caught 11 receptions for 195 yards and a touchdown in two postseason games.
NFL's highest-paid WRs ahead of 2024 Free Agency
Mike Evans will be among the top-paid wide receivers in the NFL, at least for the next two seasons, thanks to his new contract, as confirmed on Monday (March 4). Let's examine the players who make up the league's top ten highest-paid receivers, as determined by average yearly compensation and published on the NFL player contracts website, overthecap.com.
Tyreek Hill is the highest-paid wide receiver in the league, earning $30 million a year from the Dolphins. With $28 million in earnings a season, Davante Adams is the next highest-paid player, followed by veteran Cooper Kupp with $26.7 million.
The list of NFL wide receivers with the highest average yearly salary before the 2024 free agency is provided below:
1. Tyreek Hill (Miami Dolphins): $30 million
2. Davante Adams (Las Vegas Raiders): $28 million
3. Cooper Kupp (Los AngelesRams): $26.7 million
4. A.J. Brown (Philadelphia Eagles): $25 million
5. Mike Evans (Tampa Bay Buccaneers): $24 million
6. Stefon Diggs (Buffalo Bills): $24 million
7. D.K. Metcalf (Seattle Seahawks): $24 million
8. Deebo Samuel (San Francisco 49ers): $23.9 million
9. Terry McLaurin (Washington Commanders): $23.2 million
10. Tee Higgins (Cincinnati Bengals): $21.8 million
