Over the Cap has the details of the new San Francisco 49ers wide receiver, Mike Evans. On the surface, Evans signed a three-year deal worth $42.5 million, with $14.3 million fully guaranteed at the signing. Evans also received a $12 million signing bonus with his 2026 salary fully guaranteed.
The contract includes four void years, allowing the 49ers to spread out Evans’ signing bonus over four years for salary-cap purposes. So, the signing bonus will only be $2.4 million per year.
Evans also has a pair
of option bonuses in his contract. There’s an annual per-game bonus of $850,000 plus workout bonuses of $150,000. Each of those bonuses is for three seasons. We’ll touch on the option bonus shortly.
The guaranteed salary only exists in 2026 for Evans on his contract. That number is $2.3 million. Which brings us to his cap numbers and base salaries by year. In 2026, Evans has a cap number of $4.25 million. That cap number grows each year. In 2027, the cap number is $7.3 million. In 2028, it’s $9.7 million. In 2029, the first void year of the deal, the number is $20.79 million.
Here’s a look at the base salary by year for Evans.
2026: $1.3 million
2027: $1.5 million
2028: $1.7 million
Despite low base salary numbers, you still have to account for the $2.4 million in signing bonuses and $23 million in option bonuses. The latter is where most of the money in this deal is coming from, per Over the Cap.
Evans does not have an option bonus in 2026, but the 49ers were able to spread that $23 million out from 2027 through 2032–when Evans will be 39. The option bonus is $2.41 million in 2027. From 2028 through 2031, it’s $4.6 million. In 2032, it’s $2.19 million.
Here’s a look at Evans’ cap number by year:
2026: $4.25 million
2027: $7.31 million
2028: $9.7 million
2029: $20.79 million
The cap number consists of the base salary plus each bonus that we’ve talked about. Plus, if there are any LTBE(likely to be earned) incentives. The number is high in 2026 because that’s when all the remaining money from the signing and option bonuses is listed.
If things do not go well and the 49ers want to get out of Evans’ contract, they could cut him, but would eat $9.6 million in dead money next offseason. There would be no cap savings in the move. In 2028, they would save $2.5 million in cap space, but the move would also create $7.2 million in dead money.
Any post-June 1 release would incur a $2.4 million cost at any point after this offseason. The cap savings in 2027 would be $4.9 million, rising to $7.3 million in 2028.
The contract reads as if Evans will be with the 49ers for the duration of his three-year deal.
