One of the more interesting pending free agents this offseason is wide receiver Mike Evans.
Evans has spent all of his Hall of Fame career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but he recently said through his agent that he will test the free-agent market this offseason and it’s possible he won’t return to the Bucs in 2026.
“Wide receiver Mike Evans, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ all-time leading scorer, will play a 13th season in 2026 with the destination to be determined, his agent, Deryk Gilmore, told ESPN on Tuesday,” ESPN’s Jenna Laine wrote.
Evans’ 2025 season was plagued by injury, with a hamstring injury and a broken collarbone forcing him to miss half the campaign. And, for the first time in his career, Evans failed to reach the 1,000-yard mark.
After he returned from the collarbone injury, Evans ripped off a 100-yard game, which showed he is still very capable of making an impact. His production was lackluster after that, but there were also a lot of mouths to feed in Tampa.
When Evans hits the free-agent market, we would expect plenty of teams to have interest in his services.
In an article naming some of the top landing spots, Bleacher Report’s Moe Moton thinks the Baltimore Ravens, Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills are among Evans’ most likely destinations.
“Because Rashod Bateman is coming off a down year in which he hauled in just 19 receptions for 224 yards and two touchdowns, Baltimore should look for veteran insurance to complement Zay Flowers, an undersized receiver with 14 touchdown receptions in 50 games,” Moton said of Baltimore.
“Outside the white lines, Evans can mentor Keon Coleman, a taller receiver who lacks top-end speed but can use his size to high-point passes in traffic and box out defenders in the red zone. After two underwhelming campaigns, he may need an accomplished teammate of a similar size to help him develop his game,” Moton said of Evans to Buffalo.
“The Chiefs could lose veteran receivers Hollywood Brown, JuJu Smith-Schuster and Ty Thornton in free agency. To restock the position, they may be interested in Evans, who can still move the chains on crucial downs,” Moton said of KC.
One of the top priorities for Evans at this stage in his career will be winning a Super Bowl. He will also certainly want to go to a place where he can have a sizeable role.
Of the three teams Moton mentions, we believe the Bills best check those boxes.
Buffalo is a perennial Super Bowl contender thanks to Josh Allen, and Evans could very well step into the No. 1 receiver role immediately upon joining the Bills after Keon Coleman and Joshua Palmer were extremely disappointing in 2025, which leaves Khalil Shakir, who is better suited as a No. 2 or 3, as Allen’s No. 1.
Evans could also step into a No. 1 role in Kansas City, but the Chiefs have a lot of question marks, with the biggest one being Patrick Mahomes’ status for Week 1 following his torn ACL.
Kansas City also has a terrible financial situation and their status as a Super Bowl contender has taken a hit, which could deter Evans from going there in what may very well be a transition year for KC.
We would put the Ravens behind the Bills but in front of the Chiefs when it comes to ranking these possible landing spots.
Baltimore already has a No. 1 in Zay Flowers, and Evans could be as far down as third or fourth in the pecking order when you include Mark Andrews and Rashod Bateman.
The Ravens are, however, perennial contenders and could compete for a Super Bowl, so that might be enough to sway Evans to join them.
