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.”