Baker Mayfield Believes Mike Evans Will Return to Bucs in 2026

The veteran quarterback expects to have his top weapon return next season.

Baker Mayfield expects to have his top target in Mike Evans back for the 2026 season. | Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

Buccaneers starting quarterback Baker Mayfield expects to have top target Mike Evans back for the 2026 season, he said on The Ronde Barber Show on Thursday.

The 32-year-old Evans can enter free agency in March, but after a frustrating season for the veteran receiver with clavicle and hamstring injuries, some have wondered whether he will choose to hang it up instead.

Don't count Mayfield among those people.

"Here's the thing. 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," Mayfield said. "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."

Evans began his career with 11 consecutive 1,000-plus-yard receiving seasons, but the streak was snapped this season due to his injuries. The usually healthy Evans played in just eight games, catching a career-low 30 passes for 368 yards and three scores.

To Mayfield's point, it's unlikely that the Super Bowl champion and two-time Second-Team All-Pro wants to go out this way. But time will tell.

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