Mike Evans Leaves Playing Future After 2025 Open-Ended

“I honestly haven’t even thought about [the future],” Evans said, via Jenna Laine of ESPN. “I just thought about having a great year this year, and we’ll see what happens.”

On the final play of the 2024 season, Evans reached 1,000 receiving yards for the 11th consecutive year, matching Hall of Famer Jerry Rice. He needs one more season with one thousand yards, with Rice telling Evans he is eager to see the record broken.

“Hopefully I can do it … early,” Evans joked, as he missed three games due to a nagging hamstring injury this past season.

Back in April, Evans agreed to a restructured contract that saved Tampa Bay $15.3 million in cap space in 2025, per Over The Cap.

Evans, 31, is a former first-round pick of the Buccaneers back in 2014. He was in the final year of his four-year, $14.631 million, and set to make a base salary of $690,000 for the 2017 season when he agreed to a five-year, $82.5 million extension that includes $55 million guaranteed in 2018. 

Evans made a base salary of $13 million in the final year of his deal and was set to become an unrestricted free agent when he agreed to a two-year extension worth $52 million in 2024. 

He is set to become an unrestricted free agent in 2026. 

In 2024, Evans appeared in 14 games for the Buccaneers and recorded 74 receptions on 110 targets for 1,004 yards and 11 touchdowns.