The upcoming offseason will be a fascinating one for Mike Evans and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The future Hall of Fame wide receiver currently has a broken collarbone and is in the last year of his contract. He'll also turn 33 before the 2026 season begins.
It sounds like all options are on the table.
If one thing isn't, it's the idea of leaving Tampa Bay. Evans seems likely to stay with the Bucs.
This is how ESPN's Jeremy Fowler laid out the situation in a new article on Wednesday:
"Evans is in his career twilight -- retirement is not off the table -- but he's still awesome when he's on the field as a perennial top-10 receiver in the pantheon. It's hard to picture Evans in any other uniform. Gauging his market will be tricky because of his lengthy stint on IR due to a broken collarbone, but high-end talent that ages well always earns."
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Because of a pair of injuries, this will be the first season in Evans' NFL career in which he doesn't reach 1,000 yards.
He's been a model of consistency and excellence since entering the league.
His injuries are concerning in the context of a new contract, but Evans' ability probably isn't. As a big body who makes contested catches and is tough to cover just based off of sheer size, Evans should age gracefully.
It just remains to be seen how long Evans wants to stick around. Multiple suggestions of retirement have emerged this season surrounding Evans, which makes it seem like he doesn't think he has too long left.
But would he want to go out with such an injury-riddled season? Probably not. So Evans may run it back at least one more year.
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