Everyone wants to know if Mike Evans is going to be staying with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, retiring, or leaving for pastures anew this offseason, and while it's just a small thing, Bucs General Manager Jason Licht may have piqued his interest in staying by appealing to his motivation, rating the team's offensive line above the wide receiver group.
To most people, the Buccaneers wide receiver room stands out the most out of any position group on this roster, and it just might be the deepest in the league. When everyone is healthy, there is a perfect blend of veteran savvy and youthful explosion. Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, and Emeka Egbuka are a ridiculous top three, and then Tez Johnson and Jalen McMillan are good enough to be starters for a number of teams around the NFL.
Yet while speaking at the NFL Scouting Combine, Licht said, via Joe Bucs Fan, that the Buccaneers offensive line - not the wide receivers - are the best overall position group on the entire team right now in 2026.
Jason Licht thinks the Bucs OL is better than the WRs
That's a hot take, but the Buccaneers offensive linemen are also really, really good, and they, like the receivers, were also impeded by injuries in the 2025 season. Tristan Wirfs is as good as it gets at tackle, as is Luke Goedke over on the right. And the interior is also plenty stout, too.
But c'mon, it's hard to say that the line is better than those five wide receivers who are capable of moving the chains and making splash plays at all levels of the field. The depth of quality and sheer array of options the Bucs have at their disposal is the envy of nearly every other NFL ball club out there.
Evans is the real X-Factor, because he missed out on 1,000 yards for the first time in 2025, and that was solely due to injury. Immediately when he came back in the second half of the season, literally everyone in the Bucs offense got better by association with more room to get open, and Evans didn't miss a beat, unguardable in one-on-ones and even down the field.
Sure, he's north of 30 and contemplating retirement, but Evans is still a bona fide No. 1 superstar wide receiver in the NFL. The Buccaneers have the best wide receiver group when Evans is healthy, and Evans has to be looking at this quote from his own GM and thinking the same thing in the back of his mind.