What Mike Evans offers in San Francisco
On the first day of free agency, the 49ers signed 12 year veteran WR Mike Evans. What will his role be in San Francisco?
Not many people expected Mike Evans to ever leave Tampa Bay, and if he would, many did not anticipate a pairing in San Francisco.
The 49ers agreed to a deal with Mike Evans that spans 3 years, but includes just $14m in guarantees, likely making this a one year pairing.
The reviews among various media outlets have been scattered.
@grantcohn, 49ersSI:
"D (grade). The 49ers need to get younger and faster. Evans helps them accomplish neither of those goals."
@FB_FilmAnalysis(Ted Nguyen), The Athletic:
"Getting Mike Evans is also trying to get a direct answer vs the Seahawks. At some point you have to spread out and hit a go-ball. Rams have been able to do it and SF just didn’t have that guy until now.
@StayHotPod, independent:
(Mike Evans to San Francisco) "was a weird fit to me. When I think of San Francisco I think of run the in-breaker and catch and run...I thought the fit was strange. (Brock) Purdy's not a go ball thrower at all."
@Check The Mic with Steve Palazzolo and Sam Monson, PFF:
"Can he be an impact player here for Kyle Shanahan and the 49ers? Yeah, I think so.
He's outstanding in the red zone...I think that part of his game, too, will age well..."
And let's be clear.
49ers fans, you are not getting prime Mike Evans. Nothing close, really, especially coming off the injuries this past season.
And this is largely the reason for the mixed reviews. Evans will be 33 years old and missed 9 games last season, due to a hamstring issue and clavicle fracture. And Evans missed 3 games in 2024, also with a hamstring issue.
An aging receiver that's dealt with injuries? Not ideal.
However, this fills a massive hole for the 49ers. They had no real WR next to Ricky Pearsall going into the offseason. And the guaranteed money being low makes this a great contract.
So what role does Evans play in San Francisco?
He's known as an outside deep threat, who can go up and grab any ball thrown in his vicinity.
And while he has slowed down, this is the best deep threat, living outside the numbers type of guy, the 49ers have had during the Kyle Shanahan tenure.
Here's some of what Evans looked like in 2025, in his limited season:
Does this remind you of anyone, 49ers fans? Maybe not.
But my point here is that Evans is the 49ers Jauan Jennings replacement, or upgrade, rather.
The similarities are few, but noticeable:
Both are big bodied (Evans 6'5 230lbs to Jennings 6'3 215lbs) and have incredible length (80in wingspan vs 77 in).
And they use their size well, attacking the ball at the best possible catch point and being able to catch through contact. Quarterback's best friend, pretty much.
The differences are what makes this an upgrade, and they mostly exist on the outside. But let's focus on Jennings and his role in San Francisco for a moment.
Jauan Jennings' role with the 49ers slowly increased over the years. As he emerged as a contributor, he was used as a big slot guy.
You saw quick outs where his length and catch point are beneficial to the QB on 3rd downs. Great size and toughness that meshed perfectly with the 49ers scheme when running routes over the middle. He became a true 49er, contributing in every way he could, exhibiting toughness, aggression, run blocking, swagger, and overall strength.
Allow me to pause and bring up a new player: Christian Kirk.
The newly signed 49ers WR has been a classic slot guy over his career. A quick, smaller, shifty guy with good hands. He can get open quickly and get across the safety's face on a crossing route. Pretty much the opposite of Jennings.
Here's some of what Kirk offers, all from his 2025 season in Houston:
When the 49ers signed Kirk on Monday(3/16), some questions were raised.
Among them being, "how does Kirk's size and playstyle effect Brock Purdy?"
This question was worded all kinds of ways from many different people across the internet. Essentially pointing out the fact that, since Brock Purdy has taken over, his slot WR has always been the big bodied Jennings.
Purdy's out breaking 3rd down throws don't need that extra velocity nor precise placement, because Jennings' size and style make up for it. The patented digs over the middle, that Brock essentially blindly throws, become easier when Jauan Jennings' massive frame and wingspan can pluck them out of mid air.
Kirk doesn't really offer this.
Resume.
Jennings' role opened up in 2024 due to injuries. He was forced to play on the outside more often, resulting in a career year with 975 yards on 77 receptions. And Jennings continued to play there in 2025, having a versatile inside-out role in the receiver room.
So the 49ers are having to replace a bigger receiver, who played both in the slot and outside, who's best at using his size to help his QB on short outside routes and intermediate middle of field routes.
And they found Mike Evans.
Here's why I believe Evans is essentially a better version of Jauan Jennings in 2026.
Evans doesn't quite have the speed or twitch anymore to beat defenses deep, nor separate at an elite level like he used to.
But he's replacing Jauan Jennings, who never possessed this for the 49ers.
Turn back to the cut-up I made of Evans in 2025. He often works out of the slot there, doing things you saw Jennings do for the 49ers.
Also, remember what team Evans will be playing for in 2026. The 49ers run 11 personnel(3 WRs) just 42% of the time. There can still be a slot guy in 12 or 21 personnel, but with the 49ers, it often comes in the form of an interchangeable stack alignment among the WRs. Evans will likely take Jennings' place when not in 11 personnel, slot or not.
So if you were worried about losing Jennings' big body, don't be. Evans takes that role.
Luckily for the 49ers, Evans also offers a whole lot more than just "replacing Jauan Jennings."
Again, you can reference the cut-up, or just check out Evans' career highlight reel. He's one of the best deep threats in NFL history.
Did he lose some long speed? Sure. Does Brock Purdy have a cannon attached to his right shoulder to launch 60 yard bombs outside the numbers to Evans? Unfortunately, he does not.
But I feel fairly confident that Brock Purdy, one of the most accurate downfield passers in the NFL, can develop enough chemistry with Mike Evans to consistently hit back shoulder throws.
When you think of deep threats, you often hear the phrase, "stretching the field." This might be a generous term for Evans at this point in his career. When I hear that, I think of a guy who's speed forces the safeties to play overtop, and drags them out of position to open up the middle of the field.
To me, Evans' deep threat ability pertains more to the sideline than ever now. But that is something the 49ers really haven't had, at least not at his size.
Typically, for the 49ers offense to hit downfield throws, it has to be the front side read. Brock Purdy doesn't have the arm strength to wait until his receiver is 45+ yards downfield to throw a go ball. For Purdy to hit those, it has to be an early read where he knows his receiver is winning downfield.
With Evans, Purdy is able to have a go ball as a backside read. It may still have to be quick, but with Evans' ability, Purdy doesn't have to lead Evans downfield for him to win. It can be a jump ball.
Not only does Evans add the element of a threat down the sideline, but in the red zone.
Jennings was a fine red zone target with his size, but Evans can still be a dominant one. One of the few guys where you can actually throw him a 1-on-1 fade ball on the goal line, and he'll actually come down with it. And isolating him on a slant in the same situation works just as well.
His veteran technique, combined with size and hand strength creates a dominant red zone weapon to go along with Christian McCaffrey and eventually George Kittle.
Mike Evans is a great signing for the 49ers.
He fills Jauan Jennings' role in 2 WR sets. The advantageous size and wingspan still benefits Brock Purdy on short out routes and designs over the middle. And of course, Evans brings his abilities to level up the downfield throws and red zone efficiency.
The 49ers found a way to upgrade from Jauan Jennings at a cheap cost, even if it is just for the 2026 season.
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