Mike Evans signed a two-year, $52 million deal with the Buccaneers on Monday to remain with Tampa Bay and avoid free agency.
According to Diana Russini of The Athletic, multiple teams, including the Giants, were interested in signing the receiver in free agency, which begins next week.
“Multiple teams had Mike Evans on their free agent WR board and were hoping to land him in free agency writes Russini. “Based on several team sources: Titans, Rams, Chiefs, Patriots, Giants, Panthers, Falcons, and Jaguars.”
Evans, the first player in NFL history to start his career with 10 straight 1,000-yard seasons, could have been targeted to be the true No. 1 wide receiver the Giants are lacking. In 2023, he had 79 receptions for 1,255 yards and 13 touchdowns. The 30-year-old is also still durable, having never missed a playoff game and in the past four seasons played in 17, 15, 16 and 16 games.
According to Jordan Raanan, the Giants checked in on Evans’ status last week, which indicates they are thinking about different options at receiver.
“The #Giants checked on the status of Bucs WR Mike Evans and whether he would hit free agency last week in Indy,” Raanan wrote Monday. “Never seemed they were going to be players at the top of that market though. But what it does show is that they are contemplating options at WR should they go in a different direction (cough, cough: QB!) at the top of the draft. Namely the No. 6 overall pick.”
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Bridget Hyland may be reached at [email protected].
