Following Tom Brady’s retirement, the Bucs have to plan for life without the greatest quarterback of all time. Obviously they’ll need to find a replacement, but with the talent that they still have on the roster, it’ll be up to team leaders like wide receiver Mike Evans to keep them at a playoff level.

In a recent interview with NBC Sports, Evans admitted he sensed toward the end of the season that Brady might retire.

“At first I didn’t (sense Brady would retire),” Evans said. “But as the season went on, I don’t know. I just felt like maybe there could be a possibility. But obviously his play never drops, right? I think it might be time for him. His family is ready for him. He’s done so much for the game. He deserves it.”

Evans even recalled a specific moment during a Bucs practice in which he sensed that Brady might be nearing the end. The star receiver asked Brady if he was thinking about the future at all. The future Hall of Fame quarterback was non-committal.

Bucs QB Tom Brady and WR Mike Evans – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

“We were at a walk-through practice that he didn’t participate in,” Evans said. “I just asked him on the side, ‘Big Bro, what are you thinking about doing after this year’? He was like, ‘honestly bro, I don’t know’. I just looked into his eyes, and I said, ‘man, this probably could be it’. I took into account that he’s been in this league for 22 years. He’s older than my mom! I knew that it could be a possibility. I’m just appreciative that I got to play with him for two seasons.”

Evans also spoke with Kevin Patra of NFL.com during Super Bowl week to promote PLANTERS Peanuts. During the interview, the Pro Bowler elaborated on playing with Brady and what Tampa Bay’s future looks like without him.

“It’s been an unbelievable last two seasons,” Evans said. “I never imagined I’d have the opportunity to play with Tom Brady, the greatest athlete in sports history. He instilled a lot of things in this team, and we’re going to implement that moving forward. Obviously, it’s the biggest shoes to fill, but we’ve got to step up.”

Outside of finding a quarterback, it’s reasonable to question how far the Bucs can go next season with so many in-house free agents hitting the market. However, the Bucs still have great cornerstone players on both sides of the ball, which puts Evans at ease for the start of the 2022 season.

“We’ve still got a lot of core guys, young guys coming back next year,” Evans said. “Hopefully, we can get most of our free agents back. I like our chances. We’re a tough team. We’ve just got to see who the quarterback is.”

Evans has been used to playing with different quarterbacks throughout his career. It hasn’t stopped him from breaking the NFL record for most consecutive seasons to begin a career with 1,000 receiving yards, which now stands at eight.

Bucs QB Kyle Trask – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

There are many scenarios in which the Bucs bring in a quarterback from another team. But if they go inside the organization, it’ll either be veteran quarterback Blaine Gabbert or second-round pick Kyle Trask.

“I know Kyle is a really talented guy,” Evans said. “He sat behind Tom, watched a lot, observed. He’s a really talented guy. He has really great arm talent, and he’s a student of the game, sitting back learning this year. Hopefully, he has a big leap next year.”

Though Brady won’t be there, he instilled enough on the Bucs roster that players can still implement better habits for the rest of their careers.

“We’ve got to keep doing what we’ve been doing,” Evans said. “We’ll figure out the quarterback when we do. Hopefully, we find that out soon, so I can get in some work with him. But like I said (Brady), instilled things in us, work ethic, making sure we’re on top of our game, week in and week out. Making sure bodies are healthy, making sure they can feel as good as they feel. He definitely taught us that these last two years, and we’ve just got to keep it going.”

You can read the full article from Patra here.