Bucs will ‘strain’ but optimistic about signing Mayfield, Evans
INDIANAPOLIS — Baker and Mike. Mayfield and Evans. Mike and Baker. Evans and Mayfield.
No matter what order the Bucs were asked about the urgency to re-sign their soon-to-be free agent quarterback and receiver Tuesday, the tandem appeared as linked as they were on the field last season.
“They’re all priorities, but you asked about Baker in particular,” general manager Jason Licht said from the NFL Scouting Combine. “Baker meant a lot to this team and this fan base and this town. I think we meant a lot to him, and I think it was a perfect marriage.
“I’ve said before, he sought us out. He gambled on us. He saw it as a good situation. He saw it better than a lot of national people who saw us winning two games. He thought it would be good for him, and it certainly was. I know he wants to be a Buc. We want him to be a Buc. That’s usually a good starting point, and the same could be said for the rest of these guys.”
That list includes Evans, who shut down negotiations on a contact extension at the start of the 2023 season and then produced one of his best years, catching 79 passes for 1,255 yards and a leaguebest 13 touchdowns.
“That was obviously out there, and Mike decided to focus on the year — and, man, did he focus on the year,’” Licht said. “He had a hell of a year. And I’m happy for him. He bet on himself. He’s an unprecedented player that we want him to be a Buc for life.
“We’re working towards that. It takes two sides. I know he wants to be a Buc. But to get the deal done, we’ll probably have to strain a little bit, but we’re working towards that right now. But a good deal always takes some time for both sides.”
All things considered, Licht and coach Todd Bowles sounded very confident Tuesday they could reach agreements with their top
free agents before the start of the new league year March 13 at 4 p.m.
Talks on a new contract for Mayfield began last week and could continue here.
But the to-do list doesn’t stop there. Licht said he’s also engaged in talks aimed at re-signing safety Antoine Winfield Jr. and linebacker Lavonte David, and extending the contract of tackle Tristan Wirfs.
“We started talks with Baker, we’ve started with Mike, Antoine, Tristan, Lavonte,” Licht said. “I think they’re going well.”
If the Bucs are unable to reach an accord with Winfield next week they could apply the franchise player tag to their All-Pro safety. That would guarantee Winfield a one-year salary of $17.12 million but essentially end his free agency. The Bucs would have until July, however, to continue efforts to reach a long-term deal.
It’s expected that Winfield will command an average of $20 million per season.
“It’s obviously something to keep in your back pocket,” Licht said of the franchise player designation. “Ideally, I’d like to get a deal done. We’ve already started some talks there, too.
“The preference is to have Tristan long-term. We would be doing a deal with him not to reduce the cap. We’d be doing a deal with him to make sure he’s with us long-term. He’s a young left tackle.”
That leaves at least one more free agent to consider. Licht also wants to re-sign place-kicker Chase McLaughlin, who set a club record by connecting on 29 of 31 field goal tries last season, a club-record 93.5%. “We’ll be talking with him, too,” Licht said.
Bowles pushed back on any notion that Mayfield and Evans are a package deal, particularly because it doesn’t seem to matter who is under center when it comes to Evans’ production.
Among the quarterbacks who have helped Evans produce an NFL-record 10 1,000-yard seasons to start his career are Josh McCown, Josh Freeman, Mike Glennon, Jameis Winston, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Tom Brady and Mayfield.
“We’re some days away from the start of the new [league] year, and they are talking. I’m hopeful of that,” Bowles said. “Mike has been an icon here for over a decade and had one of his best years last year as well and looks like a spring chicken.”
At 31, Evans has all kinds of leverage on the Bucs. Already, the Bengals placed the franchise player tag on receiver Tee Higgins, which guarantees him $21.816 million on a one-year contract, or the average of the top highest-paid players at his position.
A new deal for Evans likely would be several million dollars higher than that, given his production last season.
One player the Bucs have shown no interest in re-signing is inside linebacker Devin White, who was benched late in the season for K.J. Britt.
Licht knows he will be busy the next few weeks but appears confident he can strike deals with his top players.