A Tampa Bay Buccaneers stalwart's future remains uncertain. Injuries, age, and team priorities could send this franchise leader to a more promising Super Bowl contender.
One of the best players in Tampa Bay Buccaneers history may play somewhere else in 2026.
Mason Cameron of Pro Football Focus has Mike Evans playing for the Buffalo Bills, not the Buccaneers.
This would hurt Bucs fans, but it does make sense.
The Buccaneers are going to prioritize defense this offseason, since that unit finished 20th in scoring defense this past season.
On offense, Tampa has promising young weapons in running back Bucky Irving and receivers Emeka Egbuka, Tez Johnson, and Jalen McMillan.
Evans is still a franchise cornerstone, but there are a few red flags to consider. For one, Evans is going to be 33, which isn’t old for a football player, but isn’t young, either.
For the first 11 seasons of Evans’ career, he was incredibly durable, which helped him tie Jerry Rice’s all-time NFL record for consecutive 1,000-yard seasons with 11.
But multiple injuries this season sidelined Evans for nine of the team’s 17 games. Was that a fluke, or is Evans’ body starting to break down?
Depending on what Evans’ asking price would be, Tampa may demur from meeting it.
That’s where the Bills come in.
Buffalo is a franchise in distress right now, having ousted coach Sean McDermott after the team lost in the second round of the playoffs. As long as superstar quarterback Josh Allen is still in his prime, the Bills will be a team looking to win a Super Bowl. It could be argued that one of the biggest reasons Buffalo won’t be going to the big game this year is because it didn’t equip Allen with quality receivers.
The Bills haven’t had a 1,000-yard receiver since trading away Stefon Diggs after the 2023 season, and although Evans might not be the player he used to be, it’s hard to argue he isn’t better than Khalil Shakir, Buffalo’s current No. 1 option.
It was only 2024 when Evans had his last 1,000-yard season, and that year, he was the fourth-highest graded receiver in Pro Football Focus's ratings.
If Evans still wants to play in the NFL, he can, and it’s just a matter of where.
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