Buccaneers QB Baker Mayfield believes WR Mike Evans will return to Tampa Bay in 2026

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Tampa Bay’s disappointing finish to the 2025 season came with extra melancholy: It may have been the last time Baker Mayfield and Mike Evans shared a field in the NFL.

Evans, a 12-year veteran who has spent his entire career with the Buccaneers, is headed toward free agency in 2026. The 32-year-old has been the model of consistency since joining the Buccaneers as the seventh-overall pick of the 2014 draft, racking up 11 straight 1,000-yard seasons before snapping that streak with an injury-shortened 2025 campaign.

He’s spent the last three years serving as Mayfield’s favorite target, catching 24 touchdowns between 2023 and 2024. During Evans’ absence in 2025, it was clear Mayfield was playing without his trusty pillar of a receiver, forcing the quarterback to turn to other options (rookie Emeka Egbuka emerged as a preferred pass-catcher early in the season) and lowering the ceiling on Tampa Bay’s offensive potential.

It was a peek of what the future might look like for the Buccaneers. Mayfield doesn’t believe it’s about to become their reality, however.

“Here’s the thing,” Mayfield said during an appearance on The Ronde Barber Show, “I don’t have to really plea with it, because Mike’s too much of a competitor and cares too much about Tampa to end his career without 1,000 yards, without a division championship, without a playoff run. And that, first of all, speaks to who Mike is.

“But that’s the truth. And you know, he doesn’t want to do that. And, you know, you could just kind of feel it. And listen, I don’t have any info. I told Mike, ‘This is your decision. Take your time doing it.’ But understanding who Mike is, that is my guess, that he didn’t want it to end this way.”

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Evans’ legendary 1,000-yard streak extended to 11 seasons in thrilling fashion in 2024, with Mayfield forcing a pass to Evans in the final minute of the regular-season finale with the hopes Evans would pick up the additional yards needed by himself. As Evans cleared the mark, the crowd at Raymond James Stadium erupted in celebration, and the players on the field followed suit in a truly memorable moment for the franchise.

The same joy didn’t exist in Tampa in 2025. Evans suffered a hamstring injury that cost him a month of action, then sustained a broken clavicle in his first game back, sidelining him for another eight weeks. By the time he returned, the Buccaneers were mired in a second-half meltdown so severe, even the future Hall of Famer couldn’t rescue them from it.

As Mayfield noted, even though the most difficult part of a player’s career is often landing the dismount, no competitor wants to go out in such a fashion.

The Buccaneers made wholesale changes in order to prevent another collapse in 2026, gutting their offensive staff before installing former Falcons offensive coordinator Zac Robinson as their play-caller. Mayfield sees these adjustments as even more reason for Evans to give it one more go.

Plus, despite the challenges presented by the 2025 season, the quarterback remains adamant his favorite receiver isn’t ready to hang it up just yet.

“Zac will do great things for us, and we’ll go from there,” Mayfield said. “But Mike’s got more in the tank. You could tell with the energy, the fire he had at the end of the year.”

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