Mike Evans Call Will Shed Light On Bucs’ Baker Mayfield Evaluation
March 5th, 2026
The Bucs say publicly that they believe deeply in Baker Mayfield and he’s been everything they’ve asked for and more, the ultimate leader and a team-first talent.
Two Pro Bowls in three years impressed the bosses, including Mayfield’s eye-popping 2024 season with 41 touchdowns and 4,500 receiving yards, plus 378 yards and 3 touchdowns on the ground.
But Joe wonders how much the Bucs really believe in Mayfield. Are they all-in or do they only like him a lot?
Mayfield often says the Bucs offense runs through Mike Evans. Fans like Joe who watch the game film know that’s accurate.
The Bucs are 4-8 without Evans over the past two years. So if the Bucs really believe in Mayfield, would they let Evans leave the team over money?
The NFL salary cap was $208 million in 2022. For 2026, it’s $301 million. That’s nearly a 50 percent jump.
Back in 2022, the Bucs paid a combined $52 million to Evans, Chris Godwin, Russell Gage and Julio Jones.
This year, the Bucs are on the books to pay a combined $27.5 million for the services of Godwin, Emeka Egbuka and Jalen McMillan. That means if the Bucs hand Mike Evans $25 million next week to play for 2026, they’ll essentially be shelling out the exact same money for wide receivers as they did four years ago — when the salary cap was $93 million less.
If money is the reason the Bucs don’t re-sign Evans, then Joe believes that would be one heck of a tell on what the Bucs really think of their starting quarterback. Joe strongly expects Evans to return, but if cash is the sole reason he doesn’t, then Joe expects Mayfield to very quietly wonder what his future is in Tampa.
The free agency dinner bell rings Monday at noon. Mayfield’s contract expires after next season.
March 5th, 2026 at 9:22 am
Evans got what, 2 targets the last game of the season? Additionally Mike is a downfield WR and Baker doesn’t have good downfield accuracy which is why you dont see 50+ TD throws like Brady did with Mike (i.e. Brady in his game vs Panthers when he dropped in the bucket for 3 TDs). How does keeping Mike help this offense get better when he doesn’t get a lot of targets and he isnt being used properly?
The fact that Baker is on the last year of his deal says it all. They dont have faith in him and Baker is more than like auditioning for another team due to his horrid play during the 2-7 slide. If Mike leaves it’ll definitely be for better QB play.
March 5th, 2026 at 9:24 am
Disagree, if he leaves feel it’s far more of an indictment of his thoughts on Bowles’ ability to get this team to play to it’s potential imo.
March 5th, 2026 at 9:33 am
M1K3, wants to play with a better QB, he’s even tired of the little leprechaun, let’s just call it, what it is….
March 5th, 2026 at 9:34 am
Kyle Murray please!!
March 5th, 2026 at 9:38 am
I know Mike personally. I talk to him everyday. Know he doesn’t lie Mayfield and wants out because of him.. (sarcasm).
March 5th, 2026 at 9:50 am
Let him test the market. Before you welcome back a washed David with open arms, and check book, let him test the market too.
March 5th, 2026 at 9:50 am
If ME leaves it will have nothing to do with Baker. You can point your finger at a really poor defense, third and 28 still on his mind with no relief in sight.
March 5th, 2026 at 9:57 am
Bee,
Absolute nonsense by you. Baker 3 year TD conection with Evans is essentially identical to Brady 3 Tampa years. To the extent there is a difference at all, it is Evans missed 9 games in 2025 season, plus Brady threw a lot more passes in his 3 years.
March 5th, 2026 at 10:00 am
Murray! Lol
March 5th, 2026 at 10:06 am
If the bucs do not sign Mike doesn’t say anything about Baker or Todd it would mean they are competent and know they have enough invested in wr and need to balance the team to actually make a push if they are serious. The bucs offense doesn’t need to be and should not still be running through a 33 year old wide receiver who isn’t gonna be less susceptible to injury as he continues to get older we are already seeing that it doesn’t matter what he looks like during pre season joe what matters is what he looks towards the end of a long season and hopefully post season playoffs he isn’t the same accept it.
March 5th, 2026 at 10:07 am
Joe … ‘If money is the reason the Bucs don’t re-sign Evans, then Joe believes that would be one heck of a tell on what the Bucs really think of their starting quarterback.’
Or MAYBE if the Bucs overpay Evans (, sorry, but $25 mil a year is overpaying Joe), THEN next year there’s a very good possibility we couldn’t afford Baker IF he has a very good year in 2026. IF Baker doesn’t have a very good 2026, why would we want to re-sign him for big bucks anyways?
ME13 at 33 is a nice ‘piece of the offensive puzzle’, but he’s not the savior. For our offense to regain its’ 2025 effectiveness, we have to go back to (1) having a top OLine; (2) having a top Run game; (3) Baker spreading the ball around to various WRs; and (4) Baker improving his accuracy by 5-10%.
Bucs had SEVEN receivers in 2024 (WRs/TEs/RBs) who had 50 or more targets. In 2025 we had only FIVE (and 2 of those were real close to 50). Spreading the ball around to quality receivers made our Passing Game much more effective.
March 5th, 2026 at 10:08 am
That will not have any bearing on Mayfield. It’s shows that the owners do not care I iota about winning! It’s all about the money.
March 5th, 2026 at 10:55 am
Sign Mike – 2 years/$20 million per year
Sign Baker – 4 years/$45 million/year. The longer we wait, the more expensive it gets. He’ll take a team friendly deal to get more pieces to win.
Sign Trey Hendrickson – 3 years – $35 million/year. Worth the risk
Sign Quay Walker – LB 4 years/$25 million/year. Perfect playmaker
Sign Isaac Seumalo – OG 2 years/$14 million/year. Wins in the pass & run.
Sign Nakobe Dean – LB 3 years/$15 million/year
Draft The best OLB/Edge in round 1, then the best defensive player available in rounds 2 & 3.
This will put us over the cap, but I’m sure they can restructure several things to make it work in 2026.
March 5th, 2026 at 11:01 am
Looks good to me, Chief. Let’s do that! Baker didn’t throw the ball deep much last year due to a decimated offensive line and lack of NFL-capable guards.
They’ll be back this year.
March 5th, 2026 at 11:03 am
Why do people still question Baker’s future after Licht said WE WANT BAKER? Like what????