Report: Former Tampa Bay Bucs WR Mike Evans signs contract with San Francisco 49ers

Long time Tampa Bay Buccaneers WR Mike Evans is set to sign with the San Francisco 49ers in free agency per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. It is a three-year deal with San Francisco.

Schefter reported Evans’ three-year deal is worth $60.4 million. He’ll make out well out west.

Evans has played his entire career with Tampa Bay (2014-25) and will see a change of scenery for the first time. Other than an injury plagued campaign this fall, Evans topped 1,000 receiving yards for 11 straight seasons.

The future Hall of Famer has 866 catches, 13,052 yards, 108 touchdowns and 15.1 yards per catch in his career. He won Super Bowl LV in 2020 with the Bucs and former teammate Tom Brady.

“Well, the Niners have needed help at wide receiver,” Schefter said on The Pat McAfee Show. “Look, they’re moving on from Brandon Aiyuk this offseason, everybody knows that they have a situation where Deebo Samuel left last year, so really, Ricky Pearsall is their proven wide receiver. They wanted a veteran presence out there. Mike Evans was interested in leading Tampa for a variety of factors, and at the combine, the word on the street all along was that he was interested in leaving. Now, he lives in Houston during the offseason. A lot of people thought, initially, maybe the Texans, but the Niners are the team that was interested in him, and they were talking today.

“And I think the hang up, as we alluded to before, was they were coming together on a deal, and then there was a hiccup, like, well, hold on, we thought you could do this, or we thought you could do that, and they had to work through that. Now it’s going to be a three year deal. It’s really a shorter term deal than that, but it’s going to be called a three year deal for cap purposes.”

As Schefter alluded to, Samuel departed for the Washington Commanders prior to 2025 and the Aiyuk saga was an absolute mess amid a contract negotiation and injury. Now, Evans is here to solidify the group alongside Pearsall, a former Florida star.

“And this is an emotional departure for both Mike Evans and the Buccaneers,” Schefter said. “This was the very first draft pick that the Buccaneers general manager, Jason Licht, made in Tampa. Mike Evans is going to be in their ring of fame. He’s going to be in the Hall of Fame. He is an elite wide receiver. For him to leave an organization like that, he just felt like he wanted to try something else.

“Wanted to be in a different offensive system. Wanted to see what life was like elsewhere, and so he now will finish his career in San Francisco as a focal part of their offense.”