The Chiefs reloaded nicely this offseason at wide receiver, but Mike Evans would have been a dream come true.
The Kansas City Chiefs went to great lengths to rebuild their wide receiving corps this spring after a fairly disastrous season as a unit in 2023. While the early returns look solid, it turns out the team could have added a first-ballot Hall of Famer with plenty left in the tank if things had fallen the right way.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers wideout Mike Evans is a living legend, the best player in his franchise's history who already has a spot reserved for him in Canton. He's also just signed a new two-year deal this offseason to remain with Tampa Bay to see how he can help the team finish well in his twilight seasons.
Earlier this year, however, some of us wondered if Evans could have been a potential target. It made sense given that his contract was up and the Chiefs had a significant need. It also didn't hurt that a lot of late-career vets might consider playing with a team that's coming off of two consecutive Super Bowl victories (a la Hollywood Brown).
As it turns out, the answer was "yes".
When speaking with the NFL Network, Evans spoke openly about his offseason considerations and he stated that both the Houston Texans and Kansas City Chiefs were on the table for him before re-signing with the Bucs.
#Bucs WR Mike Evans said on NFL Network that he was thinking about the #Chiefs and #Texans prior to re-signing with Tampa Bay this offseason.
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) July 29, 2024
Evans could have become a free agent, but he and his wife both wanted to stay in Tampa and eventually agreed on a 2-year, $41 million… pic.twitter.com/LtUxP4kLze
Before re-signing, Evans did mention that he wanted to play with an elite quarterback. We're not sure how Baker Mayfield fits the profile, but money talks, and it's not the first time the Chiefs have been used for leverage by other wide receivers.
At this point, there's a long list of "maybe" veteran wide receivers who were supposedly interested yet never hooked in Kansas City. From JuJu Smith-Schuster's first season to Josh Reynolds and Odell Beckham Jr. to DeAndre Hopkins, the Chiefs have been used for leverage or just unlucky at several other points.
Given how good Hollywood Brown and Xavier Worthy are looking this summer, however, we're pretty sure no one is going to be complaining watching the Chiefs offense this fall.