Mayfield also couldn’t hold back his praise of Evans, who caught 79 passes for 1,255 and 13 touchdowns. Evans registered his most receptions since 2016, his most yards since 2018 and his most TD catches since 2019 in a tremendous season.
“I understand where Mike is in his career,” Mayfield said. “… He’s a huge target. The guy has done it so consistently, 10 years in a row with 1,000 (receiving) yards. Very few people can ever say that. …
“The guy is unreal. Everyone wanted to put an age on it and say that he’s not going to be good anymore, and I think he took it personally.”
Mayfield deflected away from his own free agency and put the attention back on Evans, whom Mayfield said belongs with the only franchise Evans has known in the NFL. And Bucs general manager Jason Licht knows where Mayfield stands on Evans.
“So we’ve both voiced our opinions that we want to be together, but it’s got to be the right way,” Mayfield said. “Mike deserves to be a Buccaneer for life. He’s done so much for that community, so much for the franchise. He’s put his time in. I can’t say enough about the guy as a player, and just as a guy in general.”
Now we have to wait to find out if they’ll go back on tour together next fall.