Veteran receiver Mike Evans may be ending his 12-season run in Tampa Bay. According to reports, the Cleveland Browns are a top suitor, potentially setting up a reunion with a key coach from his past.

As Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com reported, the Cleveland Browns are strongly pursuing him.

"Evans is expected to be in [the Browns] sights as the three-day negotiating window opens on Monday at noon."

If this comes to pass, Evans will pair up with Shedeur Sanders, the rookie QB looking to find solid ground at the franchise. Last year, the Browns' receiver corps proved unreliable, with the veteran Jerry Jeudy coming under a lot of fire. Even with a squad of receivers who couldn't go beyond 1000 yards, Sanders still managed three touchdown games. With a strong receiver, he can perform even better. However, there's another Browns connections.

Cabot believes Evans still has a strong relationship with current Cleveland head coach, Todd Monken, who was once the former's offensive coordinator at the Buccaneers. Evans once flourished under Monken from 2016-2018, covering 1000 yards in back-to-back seasons.

"Of Evans’ suitors, the Browns make more sense than some, in part because the future Hall of Famer flourished with new Browns head coach Todd Monken as his offensive coordinator in Tampa, and would welcome the opportunity to be reunited with him."

Evans, whose base salary was $13 million last year, may look like an odd choice as the Browns are reportedly looking for players under the age of 30. But the Browns still have some $15.8 million salary cap space to get a reliable wide receiver who has scored 108 touchdowns and covered 13,052 yards in his career.

Evans Is Giving the Buccaneers a Chance Before Final Verdict

While Mike Evans becomes a free agent as of today, he is still willing to give the Tampa Bay Buccaneers a chance to retain his services.

As per Fox Sports' Greg Auman, Evans and his agent will allow the Buccaneers to come up with matching offers before the veteran wide receiver makes his final decision. Auman made this comment on X (formerly Twitter).

He ended his post saying, "Bucs still aggressively involved," which undoubtedly gives Buccaneers fans hope to see their Super Bowl-winning wide receiver return.

The Buccaneers' main obstacle is financial. Cabot believes the team cannot "match or exceed " what Evans will get on the open market.

Meanwhile, the Browns are looking into Seahawks' Rashid Shaheed and Steelers' Calvin Austin III. So, it remains to be seen whether Evans ends up with the Browns after all.

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Written by

Sayantan Gayen

Edited by

Siddharth Shirwadkar