{"id":759346,"date":"2026-02-18T01:28:30","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T01:28:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/759346\/"},"modified":"2026-02-18T01:28:30","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T01:28:30","slug":"mike-evans-committed-to-2026-nfl-season-with-buccaneers-future-uncertain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/759346\/","title":{"rendered":"Mike Evans committed to 2026 NFL season with Buccaneers future uncertain"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Mike Evans isn\u2019t finished.<\/p>\n<p>The star wide receiver will return to the NFL in 2026, <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/ByKimberleyA\/status\/2023872127854919778?s=20\" rel=\"nofollow\">according to ESPN\u2019s Kimberley Martin<\/a> \u2014 but it might not be in Tampa Bay.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Evans\u2019 agents, Deryk Gilmore and Darren Jones, told Martin that the veteran will \u201cexplore his free agency options\u201d this offseason, leaving his future with the Buccaneers up in the air.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Evans, who turns 33 before next season, has spent his entire career, which will likely end with enshrinement in Canton, Ohio, with the Bucs.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img style=\"aspect-ratio:1.49926794;display:block\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-modal-image=\"38522357\" width=\"885\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/13-reacts-catching-pass-atlanta-117188163.jpg\" alt=\"Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans (13) celebrates a catch against Atlanta Falcons safety Jessie Bates III (3).\" class=\"wp-image-38522357\"  \/>Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans (13) reacts after catching a pass against Atlanta Falcons safety Jessie Bates III (3). IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n<p>The No. 7 overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft, Evans won Super Bowl 2021 with Tampa Bay.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>A six-time Pro Bowler, Evans has caught 866 passes for 13,052 yards with 108 touchdowns throughout his 12-year career.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Evans started his career with 11 straight 1,000-yard seasons, tying a record set by Jerry Rice, a streak that ended last season due to a concussion and clavicle injury that limited him to just eight games.<\/p>\n<p>Two years ago, Evans appeared ready to test the open market before staying with the only NFL team he\u2019s ever known.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img style=\"aspect-ratio:1.49926794;display:block\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-modal-image=\"38521673\" width=\"885\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/20251211_rwe_sv7_0009.jpg\" alt=\"Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans (13) looks on during warmups before the game against the Atlanta Falcons at Raymond James Stadium.\" class=\"wp-image-38521673\"  \/>Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans (13) looks on during warmups before the game against the Atlanta Falcons at Raymond James Stadium.  Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<p>Days before the free agency period began in 2024, <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2024\/03\/04\/sports\/mike-evans-stays-with-buccaneers-on-52-million-contract\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Evans struck a deal with the Bucs<\/a>, signing a two-year, $52 million contract with $35 million guaranteed to stay in Tampa Bay through this past season.<\/p>\n<p>At the time, Evans\u2019 average of $26 million per season was fourth-most among NFL wide receivers behind Tyreek Hill, Davante Adams and Cooper Kupp.<\/p>\n<p>Tampa Bay finished 8-9 last season, falling short of the postseason for the first time in six years.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Despite the disappointing finish, the team opted to hang on to head coach Todd Bowles, but he <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/01\/08\/sports\/todd-bowles-fires-multiple-coaches-in-buccaneers-staff-overhaul\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">fired five assistant coaches<\/a> as part of an overhaul for next season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mike Evans isn\u2019t finished. The star wide receiver will return to the NFL in 2026, according to ESPN\u2019s&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":759347,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2077],"tags":[211,7,700,6,2592,9,704,250,2597,2596],"class_list":{"0":"post-759346","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tampa-bay-buccaneers","8":"tag-buccaneers","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-mike-evans","11":"tag-nfl","12":"tag-nfl-free-agency","13":"tag-sports","14":"tag-tampa-bay","15":"tag-tampa-bay-buccaneers","16":"tag-tampabay","17":"tag-tampabaybuccaneers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116089044832269685","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/759346","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=759346"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/759346\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/759347"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=759346"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=759346"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=759346"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}