The NFL announced that Mike Evans’s one-game suspension was upheld after he appealed the punishment and now he will officially miss Sunday’s game against the Packers. His role in Sunday’s brawl against the Saints will cost him $62,222, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
He would have lost $715,000 if he hadn’t restructure his contract this offseason and lowered his salary to a league-minimum $1.12 million. All in all, the move saved him $652,778.
Sunday’s brawl started when New Orleans cornerback Marshon Lattimore began to exchange words with the Tampa Bay sideline after a stop. Hearing this, Tom Brady got in Lattimore’s face and then Buccaneers running back Leonard Fournette got involved. Fournette shoved Lattimore and the defensive back retaliated, prompting Evans to come out of nowhere and hit Lattimore. After the game, Evans explained why he hit Lattimore.
“All I see is Lattimore punching Lee [Fournette] in the face or something like that and then pushed Tom,” Evans continued. “That’s all I saw. I just pushed him.”
In a statement released Wednesday, the wide receiver’s representatives said, “We are disappointed that the league upheld a suspension when there are several arguments of players doing more egregious violations including; Punching kicking and choking players and not being suspended.”
Either way, the Buccaneers will be shorthanded at wide receiver when they host the Packers on Sunday at 4:25 p.m. ET.
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