The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have a decision to make with wide receiver Mike Evans this offseason.
Evans is a pending free agent and while it’s almost impossible to imagine him playing in another uniform in 2026 after spending his entire career with the Buccaneers, completely ruling it out before he re-signs is premature.
That’s apparently not impossible to imagine for Fantasy Pros’ Frank Ammirante, who predicts the future Hall of Famer will leave for the Carolina Panthers.
“Panthers head coach Dave Canales used to be Tampa Bay’s offensive coordinator. Evans would form an imposing duo with Tetairoa McMillan — two giants on the perimeter. That’s a good way to help Bryce Young take the next step in his development,” Ammirante wrote.
If Evans were to leave the Buccaneers, we could see him signing with the Panthers thanks to his familiarity with head coach Dave Canales, who was his offensive coordinator in Tampa Bay for one season (2023).
In that season, Evans had one of his most productive showings, with the veteran posting 79 catches for 1,255 yards and 13 touchdowns.
The Panthers definitely need more help for quarterback Bryce Young and a trio that features two giants in Evans and Tetairoa McMillan on the outside and a good slot receiver in Jalen Coker would be a strong one.
The only issue we have with this scenario is that Evans is going to be looking for the best chance to win a Super Bowl at this late stage in his career and Carolina doesn’t offer him that.
All that said, the only way we could see the Bucs not bringing Evans back is if they are content with the trio they have under contract, which is Chris Godwin, Emeka Egbuka and Jalen McMillan.
We don’t anticipate that being the case and instead we fully expect Evans to return to Tampa Bay in 2026.
