Bucs' Evans plans to play in 2026, test free agency
Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans is not retiring and will test the free-agent market, his agents told ESPN's Kimberley A. Martin.
Evans is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent in March after signing a two-year, $41-million deal in 2024. He has spent his entire 12-year career with the Bucs since being selected in the first round of the 2014 draft.
The 32-year-old is coming off an injury-riddled campaign in which he played just eight games, his fewest in a single season since entering the NFL. His streak of 11 consecutive 1,000-plus receiving yard seasons ended as he posted 30 receptions for 368 yards and three touchdowns.
"I say expectation - that's my hope," Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield said in early February when asked if Evans would be back in Tampa Bay next season, according to Heavy Sports' Jonathan Adams.
"I would love to have Mike back. Just the player he is, the guy he is, the leader in the locker room. And, you know, looking at him and knowing how competitive he is, you expect him not to want to end his career the way it did."
Evans' 13,052 career receiving yards rank 21st on the NFL's all-time list and are the second-highest mark among active players behind DeAndre Hopkins. He helped the Bucs win Super Bowl LV, and he's earned six career Pro Bowl nominations.
Free agents can begin negotiating with teams when the legal tampering period opens March 9.