Future Hall of Fame wide receiver Mike Evans is going to keep playing in the NFL as he is returning for the 2026 season. Whether that will be with the Bucs is another story. Per a report from Kimberly A. Martin from ESPN, Martin spoke with Evans’ agents Deryk Gilmore and Darren Jones, who told her that he is playing and will look at what choices he’ll have in free agency.

Mike Evans Is Playing Again, But Will He Be With The Bucs?

This doesn’t come as much of a surprise that Evans is coming back for another season. Several of his comments at the end of the year indicated that he wasn’t done playing. This will be the 13th season for the star wide receiver, and that gave more of a reason for why he’d return. The number is important to him and would be fitting to at least reach that season of his career.

Mike Evans has always been serious about winning, though, which makes it a possibility that he could leave Tampa Bay for another team that has a better chance of winning a Super Bowl title. There’s not much more that Evans can do with the Bucs. His legacy is in tact. He has won a Super Bowl with Tampa Bay and is the franchise leader in several categories including catches (836), receiving yards (12,864), and touchdowns (106). He’s still going into the Hall of Fame as a Buc and will be in their Ring of Honor. None of that is going anywhere even if Mike Evans leaves town.

Bucs WR Mike Evans – Photo by: IMAGN Images – Jim Dedmon

If Mike Evans decides to move on and play for a different team, now would be the moment to do so. He can add another championship to his Hall of Fame resume, and can move up the ranks in all time receiving yards and touchdowns. It took a long time for Mike Evans to reach the postseason, then he was consistently in the playoffs for five years in a row until Tampa Bay missed it this latest season.

Once a competitor like Mike Evans got a taste of what the postseason and a championship is like, its tough to be away from that again. There are several teams that could like at Evans as the missing piece to their own title, making for an intriguing free agency between Evans, the Bucs and other potential suitor.

Pewter Report’s Scott Reynolds had a recent Pewter Pulse talking about what would Tampa Bay do if Evans did make a decision to leave in free agency. There’s a couple of options for the Bucs if the legend does go to another team. Check out the video.

Watch Pewter Report’s Reaction And Subscribe To PewterReportTV

During Tuesday’s episode of the Pewter Report Podcast, the news broke live while we are on the show. In this clip, we gave our immediate reaction to Evans returning for another season, but also the chances that he isn’t playing with the Bucs.

Bucs fans can seek out our PewterReportTV YouTube channel for more content on their favorite team throughout the offseason and into the 2026 Buccaneer season. No one covers the Bucs like Pewter Report, and that’s why PewterReport.com and our YouTube channel PewterReportTV should be your one-stop shop for everything in free agency, draft and more in the coming weeks and months.

Bucs WR Mike Evans – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

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Click on the link below to watch the clip of Pewter Report talking about Mike Evans and what him returning to play means for Tampa Bay going into this offseason.