Mike Evans Reportedly Restructures Buccaneers Contract to Create Cap Space

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers reportedly restructured wide receiver Mike Evans' contract Thursday to create additional salary-cap sapce.

According to Greg Auman of The Athletic, the Bucs are converting some of Evans' $14 million base salary for 2022 into a bonus.

The Buccaneers have been hard at work thus far in free agency, buoyed by the return of quarterback Tom Brady, who called off his retirement after less than two months.

Tampa signed Evans to a five-year, $82.5 million contract extension in 2018. Since that time, he has agreed to a restructure each year in order to create cap space.

His current deal is set to expire after the 2023 season, which would make him a free agent at the age of 30.

Evans has been a stud throughout his eight years with the Bucs, and he is the only player in NFL history to post 1,000 or more receiving yards in each of his fist eight seasons.

While Evans has barely reached that mark in each of the past two seasons with 70 receptions for 1,006 yards in 2020 and 74 receptions for 1,035 yards last season, he has been a touchdown machine with Tom Brady as his quarterback.

Evans set a new career high with 13 touchdown grabs in 2020, and he broke that mark last season with 14 scores.

All told, Evans is a four-time Pro Bowler, including last season, and he will be a huge part of Brady's success again in 2022.

In fact, Evans could be in line for an even bigger year next season based on some of the roster shuffling Tampa Bay has undergone.

Wide receiver Antonio Brown is gone after getting cut last season, tight end O.J. Howard signed with the Buffalo Bills and running back Leonard Fournette is a free agent, meaning a ton of targets could be out the door.

The Bucs did sign Russell Gage to ostensibly replace Brown, though, and while tight end Rob Gronkowski is a free agent, the prevailing thought is he will return to play with Brady.

Wide receiver Chris Godwin, who agreed to a three-year, $60 million contract Wednesday, per ESPN's Adam Schefter and Jenna Laine, could potentially miss the start of the 2022 season after tearing his ACL in December, which would make Evans the unquestioned No. 1 option for Brady.

The Bucs have already managed to re-sign Godwin, center Ryan Jensen and cornerback Carlton Davis, but with Evans helping to open up more cap space, it could aid in bringing back the likes of Gronk, Fournette, Jason Pierre-Paul or Ndamukong Suh as well.