Jets Tried to Acquire Mike Evans From Buccaneers at the NFL Trade Deadline

We now know that the New York Jets were one of the teams that made an effort to try and acquire Buccaneers' superstar receiver, Mike Evans.

Mike Evans is on the fast track to Canton. That's hard to dispute. The Buccaneers' star wide receiver has been the definition of consistency in Tampa Bay since he arrived as a rookie back in 2014. 

Although Bucs' GM, Jason Licht, did not cave to the pressure applied by Evans' agent, Deryk Gilmore, during the offseason to award Evans with a new contract, there's no question that the Buccaneers still view Mike Evans as a part of this team's future.

READ MORE: Buccaneers' GM Jason Licht Comments on Potential Mike Evans Trade 

Due to salary cap constraints on their books for this season, the Buccaneers instead opted to wait until Evans' current contract expires, in hopes that they will be able to re-sign him as an unrestricted free agent following the 2023 season.

But do we know for sure that the Buccaneers intend to extend an offer to Mike Evans at that time? Yes, we do. We know because Jason Licht has told us as much.

In an interview made earlier this week on GMFB, Licht said, “I'm really looking forward to Mike continuing his great career here in Tampa and extending his streak 1000-yard seasons here with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers,”. 

Still, that doesn't mean NFL teams wouldn't be wise to inquire about whether or not Evans could be made available via trade. Which, according to Brian Costello of the New York Post, is exactly what the NY Jets did leading up to the NFL trade deadline.

When highlighting some of the players and positions that Jets' GM, Joe Douglas, looked into at the deadline, Costello explicitly mentioned Mike Evans. 

"Douglas inquired about wide receivers like Davante Adams and Mike Evans, but the Raiders and Buccaneers were not willing to trade them."

Credit should go to Joe Douglas for at least making the call on players like Adams and Evans. Whether or not the Jets have a quarterback capable of getting them the ball this season is up for debate. 

The real story here, at least for Bucs fans, is the fact that their top decision-maker, Jason Licht, remained loyal to his previous statements. Not only was Licht not shopping around his players — like a lot of national media pundits assumed he would be — but he wasn't even willing to entertain the idea of moving on from the best offensive player in the history of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers franchise, Mike Evans. 

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