ESPN calls out the Buccaneers’ worst move of the offseason and it completely misses the mark when you break it down
ESPN’s Bill Barnwell recently released an article surveying the best and worst offseason moves for every NFC team. His take on the Buccaneers’ worst move lacks a lot of context.
We are in one of the drier parts of the offseason, even with OTAs going on, so a lot of media outlets are reflecting on the last couple of months to fill the void.
Recently, ESPN’s Bill Barnwell put out an article discussing each NFC team’s best and worst offseason moves. For the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Barnwell chose the inability to retain Mike Evans or Jamel Dean as the biggest failure of the Buccaneers’ offseason:
Evans was hit by injuries in 2025, but he had one of the most efficient seasons of his career in 2024, when the future Hall of Famer averaged 2.6 yards per route run. Dean posted a 63.1 passer rating in coverage in 2025 while missing just 2.1% of his tackle attempts. The veteran corner should have been a Pro Bowler ahead of alternate selections Nahshon Wright and Keisean Nixon in the NFC.
Even worse, neither player signed an exorbitant deal in leaving Tampa Bay. Evans’ contract with the 49ers is really a one-year pact for $14.3 million. Dean joined the Steelers, who don’t guarantee multiple years for players who aren’t future Hall of Famers, meaning his three-year, $36.8 million deal looks more like a one-year, $13.5 million contract… those are more than fair deals for players who still project to play at a high level in 2026.
Bill Barnwell
ESPN
Barnwell leaves out a lot of context that is important for the Buccaneers’ side of the coin
Starting with Evans – he clearly wanted to move on from the Buccaneers. That’s completely wrapped in the fact that Jason Licht himself even said he offered Evans substantially more money than what the San Francisco 49ers gave him.
Nothing could save the marriage, unfortunately.
“I feel like we did everything we could,” Licht said. “I had a lot of talks with Mike about that. He and I have a very good, obviously good relationship, but we talked… When a player’s reached his level for as long as he has, we tend to have deeper discussions with those players. There was basically nothing we could have done differently and I feel very strongly about that.”
Evans also said it wasn’t about the money during his introductory press conference with the 49ers. So, how can say someone failed at a certain goal when there was no goal to be had in the first place?
The same goes with Jamel Dean. The relationship had simply run its course. It became clearly evident after Dean took a massive pay cut and then watched the Buccaneers void the final year of his contract. He was supposed to be on the roster in 2026, per the deal he signed back in 2023, but that was taken off the table before the 2025 season began.
The heavy feeling was no matter what he did, he’d hit the market once the season was over. Yes, 2025 was the best year of his career, but it didn’t matter. Especially when considering he couldn’t manage to play a full season – something he’s never done since joining the NFL in 2019.
The Buccaneers didn’t want Dean and Evans didn’t want them. That’s merely a parting of ways between two sides that aren’t good for each other, anymore. It’s not a failure to retain good players, by any means, and Barnwell totally misses the mark trying to frame it as such.