Baker Mayfield and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were going to get Mike Evans his record — and a cool $3 million bonus — no matter what.
The Buccaneers, despite holding an eight-point lead over the New Orleans Saints with just seconds to go on Sunday afternoon at Raymond James Stadium, lined up ready to run a play. All they had to do was take a knee, and the NFC South was officially theirs.
But Evans was five yards shy of hitting the 1,000-yard mark on the year. So one last time, Mayfield hit Evans on a quick out route. The play worked perfectly, and it sparked a massive celebration on the field as time expired.
Evans has now recorded at least 1,000 receiving yards in 11 consecutive seasons, which matched Hall of Famer Jerry Rice’s all-time record. Rice pulled that off from 1986-1996 with the San Francisco 49ers. Rice finished his career with 14 seasons with over 1,000 receiving yards.
Evans officially finished the season with 1,004 receiving yards. Since he hit 1,000 yards on the year, Evans secured a $3 million bonus. He will add another $666,666 as a top-10 wide receiver in touchdowns across the league this season, too.
With their 27-19 win on Sunday, Evans and the Buccaneers officially won the NFC South for a fourth straight year and earned a spot in the playoffs for the fifth consecutive season. Mayfeld threw for 221 yards and had two touchdowns with an interception in the win, and Bucky Irving had 89 rushing yards and a touchdown on 19 carries. Evans finished the day with 89 yards on nine receptions.
The Buccaneers will now host either the Detroit Lions or the Minnesota Vikings in the first round next weekend. If they can win that game, Evans will earn another $500,000 bonus.
Even though simply taking a knee was probably the smart play going into the postseason, Mayfield and the Buccaneers found the best way to help out their future Hall of Fame wide receiver. As far as contract incentives go in Week 18, the Buccaneers played this one perfectly.