Offseason Priority
January 12th, 2026

Bring Mike back.

The Bucs must have questions answered on offense before the Bucs can proceed worrying about personnel.

The first question is, who will be the new offensive coordinator? Joe has a hunch the Bucs may run the final list of candidates by a guy in South Texas to get his feedback.

Mike Evans is a pending free agent, and no one outside of Evans’ family or the folks in offices in the highest reaches of One Buc Palace have an idea of his plans.

Joe thinks if the Bucs bring ina no-name or a guy who has never called plays, that won’t exactly help entice Evans back for another year.

Once the Bucs do settle on an offensive coordinator, Jenna Laine of ESPN thinks the Bucs’ biggest priority is to lure Evans back for 2026.

What is their top offseason priority? Re-sign wide receiver Mike Evans. The franchise’s all-time leading scorer’s contract expires at the end of 2025 and he’s undecided about playing next year. He did say after coming back from his broken collarbone injury, “I missed the game more than I thought I would. I come back and I still have love for the game. Who knows what it will do for me in the future?”

Aside from getting his shoulder blown up early in the season, did Evans look or play like an old man to you? Joe thought he was as sharp as ever.

But this is what scares Joe: Evans detests losing. And fans know what happened in that locker room. Too many folks basically either gave up or lost interest in winning. Not Evans.

With the Bucs sinking to 8-9 and with a bad attitude seeping through the locker room, does Evans really want to come back? He could easily play for Andy Reid and the Chiefs (yes, Joe knows the Chiefs won 6 games) and catch passes from Pat Mahomes. Evans claimed he was tempted to do just that when he was last a free agent.

Or, Evans could join his hometown Texans or any number of good teams looking for a strong receiver.

The key is hiring a good offensive coordinator. Even if Evans decides to hang it up, the Bucs have enough receiver talent for a good coordinator to cobbble together a solid offense.

Hiring a no-name rookie just may chase Evans off, not lure him back.