Steve Smith Doesn’t Want Mike Evans To Retire
February 15th, 2026
Legendary Bucs receiver Mike Evans turns 33 in August. When legendary Panthers receiver Steve Smith was 33, he had 73 catches for 1,174 yards for the Panthers.
Smith even had another 1,000-yard season in his bone and a 100+ yard game in the playoffs at age 35 with the Ravens.
Speaking on his podcast 89 with Steve Smith Sr., Smith got on the subject of Mike Evans. He made a passing reference to Evans’ regular hamstring issues and co-host James Palmer responded to Smith with almost a shame-on-you tone, ‘You always bring up [Evans’] hamstrings.’
That stopped Smith in his tracks. He got defensive.
The hamstring reference is done in reverence, Smith said. “You know why I bring it up? Because he still gets the damn 1,000 yards” even with the injuries.
“It’s not hate. It’s more of just like saying to understand if he was able to play 17 weeks, he’d probably be averaging 1,500 or 1,200 yards for the last 11 straight years,” Smith said. “I keep bringing that [hamstring issue] up to make sure people understand and respect; Mike Evans is a beast, bro. He’s a flat-out beast, and he does a lot of his work and misses games.”
Smith added that Evans is a player he never wants to see retire, and he went on to highlight how much other Bucs receivers benefit from Evans’ mere presence on the field, especially Emeka Egbuka or Chris Godwin.
“That third or fourth corner [on a defense] is dog doo-doo, and Emeka Egbuka is just going to work [him], and that’s exactly what happened,” Smith said.
Joe sure hopes the Bucs pay Evans what he needs to return in 2026.
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February 15th, 2026 at 1:11 pm
ME has made a career of making mediocre QB’s look good by throwing the ball to him.
Much like Tom Brady made coaches and GM’s look like geniuses in winning games by sheer will.
Belichick was nothing before and after Brady.
Licht was also nothing before and now nothing after Brady.
Bowles isn’t a has been because he never was and never will be.
ME should move on if he wants another ring.
2026 is already over for the Bowles led Bucs.
February 15th, 2026 at 1:22 pm
I hate steve smith.
February 15th, 2026 at 1:25 pm
Without Mikey, it’s tough to think about this team.
February 15th, 2026 at 1:29 pm
Evans is working the Bucs for more money.
February 15th, 2026 at 1:37 pm
Mike, if you’re not looking for a ring, come back. Baker will have to throw a ton to overcome a horrible defensive secondary…stretch that hammy!
February 15th, 2026 at 1:38 pm
Be a bigger man
February 15th, 2026 at 1:45 pm
I would say retain Mike, but don’t throw the bank at him. It’s hard to imagine giving him a huge contract when the guy just can’t seem to stay healthy for a whole season anymore. We all know he doesn’t want to leave Tampa. This is just b.s. posturing by him and his agent. Give him a fair deal, ’cause no one else is going to give him tol receiver money in the league. I love Mike, and don’t want him to leave, but it’s time to focus on the future if this teams expects to be competitive next year.
February 15th, 2026 at 1:55 pm
Surprised Smith didn’t take the opportunity to pop off on how Baker sucks.
February 15th, 2026 at 2:01 pm
15 mil base and 5 mil in full season incentives will get it done. ME13 ain’t going anywhere .
February 15th, 2026 at 2:05 pm
NFL season is getting so long we are approaching a time where more players per team get injured than don’t get injured. It’s a war of attrition and there’s tons of luck involved in not having your starters injured come playoff time…
February 15th, 2026 at 2:15 pm
It is about having a GM that can construct a roster with great depth, and not sure we have that.
February 15th, 2026 at 3:45 pm
ME is one of the greats at his position. If he really thinks he only has another season or two then he should chase a ring with another team. If he is thinking he can go for another 3+ seasons then he should stay and help us get another one.
February 15th, 2026 at 4:01 pm
I don’t care for the goat debates due to different eras and other factors like franchise culture, performance.
But you can make an argument that Evans is the best based on the franchise he played for and QBs he played with before Brady. You may not win the argument but it’s a legit argument.
Rice got 15 seasons with HOF quarterbacks if my math is correct. What if Evan played with tom for 10 seasons?
But he is going to miss a handful of games next year due to age and hamstrings. It’s a given. Have to plan for it.
February 15th, 2026 at 4:25 pm
Saw a segment on first take and they spent a good 5 minutes on Mike Evans and the idea of him playing for the Bills. Look….lets all take our emotional fanboi hats off and dig in to what would REALLY make Mike Evans a legend: bringing Josh Allen and the City of Buffalo a Super Bowl. If he if the actual missing piece, gets 1550 yards with 15 touchdowns, in that new stadium, after years of heartbreak for Buffalo – that whole “underrated” label for Evans, yeah, not anymore. If he wants to really take a hard look at what’s best individually, for his career, National recognition, it’s not close. I’m sure Bucs fans would selfishly rather have him rot in a Bucs uniform for another couple of 8-9 seasons, and I get it…But going 9-163 every week with Josh Allen and going 13-4 would be a no brainer if it were me
February 15th, 2026 at 7:35 pm
Love the photo of ME13 saying to catch the football
February 15th, 2026 at 8:37 pm
Any praise coming from Steve Smith is to be acknowledge as valid, because it’s rare.
That said, as big a deal as folks make about Dean, it’s the exact opposite with Mike who’s only missed something like 3 less games than Dean since 2019.
The difference in how the team performs when either is missing is obvious at this point in their time with us.
February 15th, 2026 at 9:01 pm
Evans has had repeated hamstring issues every year since 2019.
Think about that for a second…Every year since 2019!!
Does anyone think that is going to change in 2026, his age 33 yr??
How about at 34 in 2027?? I sure don’t…I don’t think anyone in their right mind would.
As such, common sense says the FO must consider that Mike’s likely to miss time in 2026…Is that 2 games? 3 or more?? Who knows, but it’s a pretty safe bet that he will miss games again in 2026 – if he plays.
I would also think that astute FO types would anticipate continued regression of his physical skills & a further lack of effectiveness as the Bucs primary X WR…Which if we are being completely honest was not great in 2025 – when he was on track to produce ~65% of his normal 17 game avg. as per the 8 games he played extrapolated across a full 17 game season.
I mean, 8gms played – 30 catches for 368yds & 3 TDS, where has a whopping 37 total YAC…That says more than words…That’s just over 1.2 YAC per catch… It’s a huge Red Flag…As was his sub-50% catch rate, another Red Flag.
Toss on top of that what your eyes could see of the then 32yr old WR…(no separation & more drops than we’ve seen in years)…Then the business case for his return is much harder to make.
The NFL is the “Not For Long” league…Mike’s made it longer than most but it feels like he was playing on borrowed time in 2024 – just squeaking out his 1K streak…In 2025 he completely fell off the age-performance cliff when he was on the field.
Mike’s last couple years have directly followed the age-performance decline data points – decline starting at 30 with cliff drop in performance at 32.
There’s a reason the vast majority of 32yr old WR’s find it hard to sign lucrative contracts. There’s a world of data telling teams it’s a bad bet.
Steve Smith is like many of us Bucs fans…Where our heart may say “Pay the man – Buc for Life” but the business side of the game says “Thank you for your service & best of luck with your future endeavors”.
February 15th, 2026 at 9:45 pm
Licht and Bowles are willing to waste a roster spot on LVD which tells me they’ll break the bank for ME. Get ready for some bad defense again.
February 15th, 2026 at 11:19 pm
You can make any list of pros and cons you want to about Mike Evans at this stage in his career. Heading my “pros” list is that he gives our team a better chance to win the Super Bowl this season. Even if we have to pay him 24 million dollars this year to keep him. We’re going to have to improve our defense through the draft. That can be done.
February 15th, 2026 at 11:21 pm
Mike is not retiring.
And the Bucs had better resign him and not let him go to the Pats or some other team where he’s going to have a 1300 yard 15 TD season.
February 16th, 2026 at 8:41 am
The writing is on the wall. Evans is leaving and it’s likely to the Patriots or the Jaguars.
February 16th, 2026 at 9:22 am
20 million per year for Godwin while Evans deal was allowed to expire.
1st round pick used on WR last year.
2nd round pick used on WR the year before.
It’s obvious that the Bucs picked Godwin over Evans the day he signed a 3 year deal over Evans 2 year deal.
Evans is not going to sign a 1 year 15 mil deal with the Bucs. When he can get a 2 year 40 mil deal from multiple teams and SB contenders.
February 16th, 2026 at 10:17 am
Other teams that need WR1/2 Bill’s, Chiefs. Evans is as good as gone.
February 16th, 2026 at 3:15 pm
I pray for 3 more years from Evans
February 16th, 2026 at 9:13 pm
IMO he needs to put on some weight. He looks too thin recently