The San Francisco 49ers made their first splash of the legal tampering period
on Monday, reportedly bringing in veteran wide receiver Mike Evans.In theory, Evans kills two birds with one stone: he’s the No. 1 receiver the 49ers were missing with Brandon Aiyuk going AWOL, and he’s a quality replacement to soon-to-be former 49er Jauan Jennings. But that’s in theory, as Evans is on the wrong side of 30 with a recurring hamstring injury, which isn’t the most comfortable of combinations.
With Evans choosing
Santa Clara as just his second home in his 13-year career, these are the numbers to know for one of the newest 49ers:
33
Evans will be 33 years old by the time the regular season starts.
It’s a give-and-take situation for Evans as he enters rarified air as a soon-to-be 33-year-old receiver with the 49ers. He’s been productive in his thirties, combining for 2,627 yards on 183 receptions, good for 27 touchdowns over his last three seasons since hitting the big three-0. Those numbers are hampered by a 2025 season in which Evans missed nine games with a broken collarbone (more on that in a minute), resulting in a season with just 368 yards on 30 receptions.
Evans will offer something the 49ers haven’t seen in more than a decade, however: a wide receiver over the age of 33. The last 49ers receiver to play a game for the 49ers over the age of 33 was Anquan Boldin’s age-35 season back in 2015. Like Evans, Boldin was brought to the 49ers in his age-33 season, and he certainly did not disappoint. Boldin had two 1,000-yard seasons in his three years with San Francisco.
He’s on the older side for a wide receiver, especially from what 49ers fans are used to, but if he can stay on the field, Evans has a chance to be a game-changer for the 49ers offense, despite his age.
18
Evans has missed 18 games since the 2019 season.
Speaking on whether Evans can stay on the field.
18 games missed over seven seasons isn’t too bad considering half of those games are after Evans turned 30. But that number is boosted by a 2025 season that saw Evans miss nine games with various injuries, the biggest being a broken collarbone suffered in Week 7, causing the receiver to miss five of those nine games.
What’s most concerning is that most of the other nine games missed since 2019 have been the result of a nagging hamstring injury.
The 49ers’ injury history isn’t stellar, and a nagging hamstring injury for a player of Mike Evans’ age doesn’t feel great in tandem. You can almost put Evans in the Trent Williams category; he’s going to miss at least a couple of games in a given season, it just comes down to when he will miss them.
Evans has also seen a decline in his snap count over the last four seasons, starting at 927 in 2022 and ending at 357 last season. The 49ers are obviously hoping closer to the former than the latter for their new No. 1 receiver.
11
Evans has 11 1,000-yard receiving seasons in his 12-year career.
Somehow, someway, a 1,000-yard wide receiver has been rarer for the 49ers than an age-33 or older receiver taking a snap since the turn of the millennium. Since 2000, nine different 49er receivers have taken a snap for San Francisco. In that time span, only five different receivers have had a 1,000-yard season:
- Terrell Owens (four times)
- Michael Crabtree (one time)
- Anquan Boldin (two times)
- Deebo Samuel (one time)
- Brandon Aiyuk (two times)
Only Boldin, Samuel, and Aiyuk have recorded a 1,000-yard season since Mike Evans joined the NFL back in 2014. George Kittle isn’t included since he’s a tight end and not a receiver, but he’s had four 1,000-yard seasons since he entered the league back in 2017.
If Evans can stay on the field, he’s got a good chance to become receiver number six to join the 1,000-yard club for the 49ers.
