Mike Evans proposed trade packages: What must NFL teams cough up to land Buccaneers superstar?
Mike Evans' days as a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers might be numbered. The wide receiver, who'll be 30 when the 2023 season kicks off, is a likely trade candidate for the organization with or without Tom Brady for next season, as the Buccaneers need to clean up cap space and Evans will be a free agent.
Being $55 million over the salary cap, the Buccaneers don't have much else to do other than move important parts to clean up their payroll. As the receiver enters the final year of his contract, with Chris Godwin already demanding a huge cap space, it's unlikely that Tampa Bay will extend his contract.
A post-June 1 trade for Evans would save more than $14 million in cap space, giving the Buccaneers some breathing room to operate while they look for other ways to get under the cap.
With a star wide receiver available on the market, and based on Tyreek Hill and A.J. Brown's trades last year, we can speculate what his trade value would be in the offseason, as well as which teams might be interested in the player.
Mike Evans' trade value: What could the Buccaneers get for the receiver?
It's unlikely that the Buccaneers would get anything more than a second-round pick for him, as absurd as it might sound at first.
First of all, he has just one year left on his current contract, and any team that trades for him would need to sign a contract extension for the deal to make sense. Second, he will enter his age-30 season in 2023, and while nobody thinks he's declining yet, his age is a concern in the long term.
Which teams would be possible trade partners for Mike Evans?
The two likeliest candidates would be the Chicago Bears and the New York Jets, two teams with enough salary cap space to afford his contract extension and desperately in need of a star wide receiver to help their young quarterbacks, even if Zach Wilson is a probable afterthought with the Jets.
The Bears' wide receiver core was the worst in the league during the 2022 season. Giving Justin Fields a true No. 1 weapon would accelerate his development and unlock his passing ability. Chicago has the biggest cap space in the NFL.