The San Francisco 49ers made a number of key acquisitions this offseason, as they look to build off their playoff appearance last year and launch back into contender status.
The biggest of them all? Wide receiver Mike Evans, who signed a three-year deal with the 49ers in free agency. Evans and the 49ers aligned on one goal: winning a Super Bowl at the end of a championship window. For Evans, it’s a chance to get a ring as he reaches the end of his career. For the 49ers, it might be the last chance with their core of aging stars before having to make some decisions.
Evans holds quite the pedigree, securing 1,000-yard seasons in each of his first 11 years in the NFL before dealing with injuries this past year in his age-32 campaign.
Now, he’ll rise to become San Francisco’s No. 1 receiver, filling a void that was dearly missed last season without Brandon Aiyuk.
There hasn’t been much to see from Evans yet through the early part of the offseason, but the wideout is making his presence felt in the building, according to quarterback Brock Purdy.
“He’s been awesome,” Purdy said, via NBC Sports Bay Area. “Obviously, just what he’s done in his career, he’s a Hall of Famer, 1,000-yard seasons really year after year, his whole career. He’s won a Super Bowl. Just like being around him and in his presence and understanding, you know, what it’s going to take to play with him, and just honestly like the good pressure that it brings.
“Like, all right, I have a guy that is demanding success and demanding to be great. And I love that. I want to play with guys like that. Obviously, I’ve played with guys like that with George [Kittle] and Christian [McCaffrey] and all that. But to bring Mike in the fold now and be able to have a big target like he is, but how he sees the game and him breaking down routes that he’s run with Tom Brady and Baker Mayfield. And I’m like, all right, like, ‘this guy knows ball.’ And so I’m really excited. And as we go, we’re just going to continue to build chemistry, and it’s going to get good.”
How has Purdy been able to learn from a veteran like Evans as they continue to build that rapport?
“Yeah, I think just like his experience, he’s going in, I think Year 13 or 14 and just talking about like certain routes in the red zone,” Purdy said. “And I’m like, ‘hey dude, on film I saw you run this one route. We have a similar concept, like, what are you thinking?’ And he’s like, ‘actually, it’s not that concept.’ I had a choice to go around the DB a certain way, and Tom [Brady] knew to put the ball there.
“And that’s something that we had talked and worked through. And I’m like, oh, shoot. So that’s like stuff that we’re going to have to talk through and work through. But I’m so excited because this guy sees the game, I feel like a quarterback does. Sometimes with skilled players, it’s tough because like they run the route. Coach taught me 8 yards, I’m breaking this way or that way. But when you get a guy that can see the game like a quarterback and have a feel for it, those are the kind of guys that I think take their game to the next level, and you get a Hall of Famer like Mike Evans.”
Still, with that mentality and that presence, Evans has been a seamless fit in the locker room with his personality.
“It’s been sweet just in the locker room,” Purdy added. “Like, Mike is obviously a Hall of Fame receiver and all the things, but he’s a bro, you know, to all of us. Like, he’s a guy that’s in the locker room that’s chatting it up, making jokes with guys and stuff. And he’s just a real dude. He’s a father. He’s bouncing back and forth and going back home to Texas and coaching up his daughter’s, like, basketball team and stuff. So, yeah, he’s just a real dude that we all love being around.”
Evans’s health will be the big story, as he played in only eight games this past season. But the 49ers are hoping for big things from him this year, and his presence will be key from a leadership perspective in a wide receiver room in need of production.
