Atlanta Falcons Rival Bucs: Mike Evans Contract Deadline Demand

Mike Evans - a four-time Pro Bowler who has posted nine straight 1,000-yard seasons - is making threats in Tampa Bay. And the Falcons have a reason to eyeball the trouble.

Mike Evans has issued a threat to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Is it an empty threat ... or one that can change the course of the Atlanta Falcons' chance of contention in the NFC South?

Evans' reps on Friday announced that the wide receiver "wants the next phase of his career to be with an organization who wants him and wants him to help win a Super Bowl." ... and with that have set a Week 1 deadline to receive a new contract from the Buccaneers.

And if he doesn't get it? Evans - a four-time Pro Bowler who has posted nine straight 1,000-yard seasons - is indicating that he will seek a 2024 exit from Tampa Bay.

Two of the problems the Bucs surely have with Evans' position?

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One, he is entering the final season of a five-year, $82.5 million extension he signed in March 2018 and is set to to make a base salary of $13 million. So the Bucs surely will take the view that they have already paid him handsomely.

Two ... didn't the Evans-era Bucs already win a Super Bowl? (Hint: They did.) Why doesn't that count as evidence of the organization's willingness and ability to win? Nevertheless ...

"We have been working on extending Mike's career with the Bucs for over a year, and we want the fans to know this is not a tactic and the ball is in the owner's court," Evans' agency said. "That said, we are giving the Bucs until the start of the regular season to make him a Buc for Life, and if that cannot happen, 100 percent of Mike's focus will be on football and his future and where he can continue to make an impact."

The Falcons, trying to get up and over the post-Tom Brady Bucs, wish no ill will on anyone, of course. But ... Atlanta fans would love for Tampa Bay to somehow be lacking "focus" on 2023 ... with problems that extend into 2024.

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