Golden Nuggets: Welcome To The 49ers, Mike And Vederian!

What does Mike Evans bring to 49ers’ offense? 
“Evans has scored double-digit touchdowns in six of his 12 seasons and has scored fewer than six touchdowns only three times. According to NFL Next Gen Stats, Evans has 27 touchdown catches on tight-window throws in the past 10 seasons — six more than the next closest player (Adams, 21). 

Despite Evans’ advanced age and recent injuries, there doesn’t seem to be much risk in this deal for the Niners, either. While it’s a three-year deal on paper, Schefter has reported that the “numbers sound bigger than they’ll actually be” as the contract will be structured in a way to benefit the 49ers’ salary cap.” 

49ers signing Mike Evans to 3-year, $60.4 million deal to fill need at wide receiver (paywall) 
“Evans’ agent, Deryk Gilmore, said in a statement that his client’s decision to leave the Bucs was “never about money” and that Evans turned down a “very strong offer” from Tampa Bay, which was “extremely aggressive in their pursuit.” 

“In the end, this decision simply came down to Mike wanting a new challenge and a fresh opportunity,” Gilmore said, “while he still feels he has a great deal left to give the game.” 

Notably, Gilmore said Evans retained his same goals, which included winning a second Super Bowl and playing in an “offensive system that challenges defenses.” 

What 49ers’ reported Mike Evans contract agreement means for Jauan Jennings  
“Evans gives 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy a big (6-foot-5, 231 pounds) and reliable pass catcher and red-zone target.

Evans eclipsed 1,000 yards receiving in each of his first 11 seasons in the NFL after coming on the scene as the No. 7 overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft from Texas A&M. 

Evans is coming off an injury-filled season with the Buccaneers. He sustained a hamstring injury early in the season, then sat out two months after sustaining a fractured collarbone. 

He returned to action for the final four games of the season and finished with 30 catches for 368 yards and three touchdowns in eight games.”   

His father’s murder drove Mike Evans to the NFL, a ‘big brother’ taught him how to stay there (paywall)
“Mike Evans Sr. was a devoted father but a violent man. Once, when he showed up to one of his son’s football games after a long absence, Petteway asked where he’d been. Evans shrugged. “Outta town,” he mumbled. Petteway knew what that meant. 

Evans had served three years in prison for assault, then a 30-day stint after hitting Mike’s mother, Heather Kilgore, with a beer can, cutting her lip and chipping her tooth, police records show. Their relationship began when both were teenagers — Heather gave birth to Mike when she was 14 and Mike Sr. was 19 — and grew volatile over time.  

One night, Heather’s brother Sam Kilgore, who was living with the family, snapped. It started with a gunshot in the living room while the children slept inside the Galveston, Texas, home, and ended with Kilgore dragging Evans on the asphalt outside, emptying a .32-caliber pistol into his forehead, then stabbing him over and over until blood pooled on the street.

Kilgore confessed to the crime six days later. “I wanted to make sure he was dead,” he told detectives. 

The fury that filled Mike at first — he tore up his uncle’s bedroom in anger — faded over time. He convinced himself he had to bury the pain. He rarely spoke of what happened. “To this day, he’s never expressed to me what it was like going through that,” Petteway says. “Not once.” 

Mike tried to grasp his uncle’s motive, and as he grew older, finally did. “He was doing what he thought was best for his sister,” he says now. “He was protecting her.” At his mother’s urging, he visited his uncle in prison. He spoke to him over the phone. In time, he found it in himself to forgive. 

“There’s no excuse to kill someone, murder someone,” Evans says now. “But faith plays a big part in everything I do. I’ve always been forgiven. I’m not perfect. I’ve had plenty of f—ups. He’s still family.”

Along with his wife, Ashli, he formed the Mike Evans Family Foundation, which serves youth throughout Tampa — as well as domestic violence victims, a cause that remains deeply personal to him. Heather Kilgore, always in her No. 13 jersey, has been a fixture at Bucs games for years.

“Now that I have a family of my own, I look back and think, ‘I have no idea how she did it,’” Mike says. “She was a hospital clerk. How did she afford stuff? There was never a Christmas that went by where we didn’t have presents under the tree.”

5 things to know about new 49ers WR Mike Evans 
“Evans is noted for his fierce love of the world of Harry Potter, which he fell in love with as a child. 

“People have their stereotypes, but it’s just being comfortable with what you like,” Evans said in 2022. “I love Harry Potter. I grew up on it. I’m a little bit of a nerd when it comes to Harry Potter. Whatever you have a passion for just enjoy it.” 

Evans has multiple tattoos paying tribute to the boy wizard and used his time in Tampa to visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios in Orlando.”

49ers awarded three fourth-round compensatory picks in upcoming 2026 NFL Draft 
“The NFL announced the 49ers will pick up compensatory selections in the fourth rounds at Nos. 133, 138 and 139 overall.” 

5 things to know about new 49ers OL Vederian Lowe 
“I had a torn labrum from last year that I played with,” Lowe said in 2025, per MassLive.com. “It was just rough trying to finish the year out. I got surgery. My first offseason dealing with a major injury, trying to get myself back. I was proud of getting myself back, being able to be productive, and securing a spot here.” 

In 2025, Lowe played in all 17 games, starting four. Lowe improved over the course of his time with the Patriots and drew some praise for his performance as a spot starter in the absence of rookie Will Campbell in 2025. He finished the season with a 61.4 grade from Pro Football Focus, which ranked him 63rd out of 89 players at his position. PFF also graded Lowe with a pass blocking score of 67.1 and a run blocking score of 56.8. In 317 snaps played, Lowe allowed one sack while committing two penalties….

…Lowe became a father at age 19, not long after meeting his future wife, Haylee. Lowe was a bit overwhelmed at the thought of becoming a father at first, but it helped him grow up and refocus quickly — and it was only the beginning of what he would take on during his college years. 

Lowe’s wife gave birth to a second son while he was at Illinois, and along the way, the couple decided to adopt Lowe’s brother, Vydalis, after the unexpected passing of their mother, Veneka…..

Despite having to deal with a full house as a college student and football player, Lowe juggled everything perfectly. In 2021, Lowe was recognized by being named a semifinalist for the annual Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the Year Award, given annually to the player who demonstrates leadership, courage, integrity, and sportsmanship both on and off the football field.”

Kawakami: A solid offseason start, but … could the 49ers blow it with Trent Williams? 
“What I’ve heard is the same as the recent headlines have indicated: As of Monday, the 49ers and Williams were nowhere near an agreement. It sounds like the 49ers are either bluffing about moving on from him — and taking a $34.1 million dead-cap hit — or actually are considering it. 

That, of course, would be wholly self-destructive, unless 49ers management, Kyle Shanahan, John Lynch, and Brock Purdy really want a question mark at left tackle trying to block the Seahawks’ pass rush a few times a year. 

And I’m sure that Williams and his agent thoroughly understand this problem for the 49ers and have emphasized it in the negotiations. That’s the 49ers’ issue, not theirs — and it’s wholly within Williams’ rights to push the 49ers on it, just like he did two years ago when he got more guaranteed money and set up this offseason as another decision point…. 

Well, the 49ers and Williams are here now and the 49ers still don’t have any other credible options at this crucial position.

I understand that the 49ers don’t want this to linger like some of their other painful negotiations in the recent past; I get that they don’t love that a 38-year-old player has them over the barrel again and probably is asking to be paid top dollar into his 40s, when he very likely won’t be worth that kind of money. 

But 49ers management didn’t draft any tackles in the last several years, they didn’t re-sign Jaylon Moore when he hit free agency last year, and they are stuck with this if-not-Trent-then-shrug-emoji situation. 

They either capitulate to Williams or they go on without one of the best left tackles in NFL history — while taking that massive dead-cap hit. 

At some point, the 49ers’ negotiators will have enough leverage to say no to Trent Williams. I doubt it’s now, though. And if they do it out of spite and penury this week, the team will be much worse for it….. So let’s just presume that Williams will be back with the 49ers in the 2026 season…

They could use a few more key additions after Day 1. The 49ers have the cap room to do at least one more big thing, and there are some interesting names still available as of Monday evening. 

Would the 49ers wade into the market for pass rusher Trey Hendrickson, who a bit surprisingly didn’t get taken off the board right away? Maybe. But if they’re holding the line with Williams, it’s hard to see them going too hard for Hendrickson, unless it’s a deeply discounted deal. 

How about wide receiver Romeo Doubs, to fully reconstruct that position, with Jennings and Brandon Aiyuk moving on?

The 49ers have put themselves into position to do some things after Day 1. They don’t have to go bonkers with the free-agent dollars, but they also can be strategically aggressive.

How tackle Vederian Lowe fits 49ers amid Trent Williams’ contract uncertainty  
“Lowe started 13 games for the New England Patriots at left tackle in 2024. In three seasons with the Patriots, he appeared in 42 games with 25 starts. He turns 27 on April 17. 

Lowe entered the NFL in 2022 as a sixth-round draft pick of the Minnesota Vikings. He played college football at Illinois. The Patriots acquired him from the Vikings in 2023 for a sixth-round draft pick.”