Defensive back Kindle Vildor is headed to New England.
Vildor’s agents Kevin Conner and Robert Brown told Adam Schefter of ESPN that their client has agreed to a one-year deal with the Patriots. No other terms of the deal have been announced.
Vildor played 12 games and made one start for the Buccaneers last season. He had 16 tackles and an interception in those appearances.
The Bears drafted Vildor in the fifth round in 2020. He also made stops in Tennessee and Detroit before joining the Buccaneers and has 140 tackles, two interceptions, a sack and a forced fumble over his entire NFL career.
The Buccaneers wanted Mike Evans to return, hoping he would finish his career with the team. The wide receiver, though, was looking for a “new challenge,” according to Bucs General Manager Jason Licht.
Reports before Evans decided on his future indicated he was being offered $27 million per year. He signed a three-year, $42.5 million deal with the 49ers.
Licht said Wednesday that the Bucs offered more than the 49ers paid Evans.
“He means everything to me,” Licht said, via Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times, “but he means everything to the entire organization. Obviously, he’s the best offensive player we’ve ever had and an even better person than he is a player. So, it’s always tough. That one was really tough. . . . We made a significantly higher offer, and that was just the first offer.
“It became pretty clear that he and his family were just ready, like he said publicly, for another chapter. And ideally, of course, you’d want him to be a one-helmet player. But if you look back, there are several of those great players in that category. Dan Marino comes to mind, because I was there. You know, Barry Sanders and all of those. But then for everyone you name, there’s Jerry Rice, Peyton Manning, Joe Montana, Tom Brady that just at some point wanted another chapter. [Evans had] already established himself as the best player we’ve ever had on offense and 11 straight years with 1,000 yards, setting records. He won a Super Bowl. In my conversations with him, you know, we got emotional.”
Evans was frustrated by how last season ended without a playoff berth, Licht acknowledged, but the Bucs’ crowded receivers room played a bigger role in his departure. With Emeka Egbuka, Chris Godwin, Jalen McMillan and Tez Johnson in Tampa, Evans would have had to share targets. In San Francisco, he is the clear No. 1 wideout.
“We all know [Evans is] not a selfish guy,” Licht said. “He loves his receiver room so much; he talked about it often how this is just going to give more opportunity for them all. You know, Chris, obviously, J-Mac, Emeka and Tez. He made some solid points. I wasn’t saying, ‘You’re right; go ahead.’ But I just think there’s such affection for those guys. I think that did weigh into it a little bit.”
In 2025, Evans failed to reach 1,000 yards for the first time in his career. He missed nine games with hamstring injuries and a broken collarbone and caught a career-low 30 passes for 368 yards and three touchdowns.
He leaves Tampa with 866 receptions for 13,052 yards and 108 touchdowns, earning a spot in the team’s Ring of Honor once his Hall-of-Fame-worthy career ends.
“Mike gave us everything he had for his 12 seasons here and established himself as one of the best players in the league,” Licht said. “So, to say it again, he’s one of our best players we’ve ever had.
“I don’t feel betrayed. He earned the right. . . . Sometimes you think you’re just ready for another chapter. I think you’d have to ask the Patriots if they felt betrayed by Tom, the Colts for Peyton Manning. I mean, that was maybe a little different, but I don’t feel betrayed. I feel like we did everything we could. I had a lot of talks with Mike about that. I think he made a family decision. I think it was, you know, for them to have a new chapter. San Francisco is a very good team, so I don’t want to criticize his decision right now.”
Mike Evans’s long run with the Buccaneers ended when he signed with the 49ers as a free agent last week and Bucs General Manager Jason Licht shared his thoughts on the wideout’s departure on Wednesday.
In terms of Tampa’s interest in having Evans return for a 13th season, Licht said, via Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times, that “we had a verbal agreement that [Evans] could be here as long as he wants.” Licht said he felt the Bucs “did everything we could” before the wideout opted to sign with the Niners.
Licht added that there were no hard feelings about Evans deciding to move on and that he is “happy for Mike and happy he found a place he wants to be.”
“I don’t feel betrayed,” Licht said. “He earned the right to make the decision . . . he loves this team. He loves everything about it . . . I think he wanted a new challenge.”
Licht selected Emeka Egbuka in the first round of last year’s draft, so the Bucs were planning for the future of the wide receiver group while Evans was still in the building. Egbuka, Chris Godwin and Jalen McMillan will now make up the top of the team’s receiver group while Evans tries to find the same kind of success with his new club.
Before Mike Evans picked his next team, multiple reports suggested that he was being offered $27 million per year, or more. If that’s the case, Evans took a major discount to play for the 49ers.
Yes, it was widely characterized by the usual suspects as a three-year, $60.4 million deal. The truth, as it often does, paints a different picture.
Here are the full deals, per a source with knowledge of the terms:
1. Signing bonus: $12 million.
2. 2026 base salary: $1.3 million, fully guaranteed.
3. 2026 workout bonus: $150,000, fully guaranteed but must be earned.
4. 2026 per-game active roster bonus: $850,000, fully guaranteed but must be earned.
5. 2027 option bonus: $12.5 million.
6. 2027 base salary: $1.5 million, guaranteed for injury at signing.
7. 2027 workout bonus: $150,000.
8. 2027 per-game active roster bonus: $850,000.
9. 2028 option bonus: $10.95 million.
10. 2028 base salary: $1.7 million.
11. 2028 workout bonus: $150,000.
12. 2028 per-game active roster bonus: $850,000.
It works out to a base package of $42.5 million. The APY is $14.167 million. That puts him near the bottom of the top 30 among receivers.
Could he have gotten more elsewhere? Maybe. He seemed to be determined to play for the 49ers, even with the 13.3-percent California tax rate. (In Florida, it’s zero.)
We’re still trying to get the details of the incentive/escalator package that supposedly makes the $42.5 million deal worth “up to” $60.4 million. For now, those details remain as elusive as the basic contract details had been, for more than a week after the agreement was reached.
The Buccaneers are bringing back one of their offensive linemen.
Tampa Bay announced on Monday that Dan Feeney has re-signed with the club.
Terms of the deal were not immediately disclosed.
Feeney, 31, joined the Buccaneers in September when the club signed him off of Buffalo’s practice squad. He appeared in 12 games with 10 starts for the Buccaneers last season, playing 84 percent of offensive snaps in games played.
A third-round pick in 2017, Feeney has appeared in 132 games with 75 starts for the Chargers, Jets, Bears, Vikings, and Buccaneers.
