Veteran receiver Steve Smith has a New Year’s resolution that will be of particular interest to Ravens fans. The star wideout announced today (via Twitter) that he intends to put off his retirement plans for at least one more year, and will return to the Ravens for the 2016 season.

A five-time Pro Bowler and two-time First Team All-Pro, Smith announced earlier this year that this season would be his last. However, a torn Achilles derailed his 2015 campaign after just seven games, raising questions about whether he’d want to end his career on such a disappointing note.

Of course, for Smith to return to the Ravens next season, the team will have to want him back, but it doesn’t look like there’s any question that Ozzie Newsome, John Harbaugh and the rest of the organization are on board with the idea. Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun tweets that team officials have suspected for months that the former third-round pick would continue playing.

Despite turning 36 this year, Smith was more effective than ever in the first half of the 2015 season, with 46 receptions for 670 yards in his seven games. The 95.7 yards per game average was the second-highest of his 15-year NFL career.

Smith still has one year remaining on his three-year contract with Baltimore, and the salary and cap hit for 2016 is identical to his 2015 figures — he’ll earn $3MM in salary, with a cap hit of about $4.167MM.

Although Steve Smith, Sr. announced in August that the 2015 season would be his last in the NFL, there were rumblings as early as October that he would be open to returning in 2016. Given that this year has been such a disappointment for the Ravens, who had legitimate playoff aspirations when the season began, and given that Smith’s excellent individual performance was cut short by a season-ending Achilles tear in Week 8, it makes sense that the diminutive wideout, renowned for his toughness and competitive spirit, would want to give it one more shot in 2016.

And according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com, that’s exactly what Smith plans to do. Citing sources who stay in regular contact with Smith, Rapoport says that if Smith feels like his usual self when he fully recovers from his torn Achilles, he will return next season, which will be the final year of the three-year, $11.5MM deal he signed with Baltimore prior to the 2014 campaign. Rapoport adds that Smith is out of his walking boot, and he is focusing on hydrotherapy at the moment in an effort to avoid atrophy and to ensure that he can regain his usual explosiveness and cutting ability.

Over the course of his prolific career, Smith has compiled 13,392 receiving yards–good for 11th all-time–to go along with 76 receiving touchdowns. That is not to mention the success he enjoyed as a return man in the early part of his career with the Panthers, his five Pro Bowls, and his two First Team All-Pro selections, all of which make him a legitimate Hall of Fame candidate. And although the 36-year-old Utah product showed some signs of slowing down towards the latter stages of the 2014 season–a season in which he nonetheless posted 1,065 receiving yards and six scores–he bounced back with a vengeance in 2015, averaging nearly 100 yards per game before being sidelined.

The Ravens will surely look to supplement their receiving corps this offseason, but they would love to see Smith return, as he has proven that, despite his age, he can still be an invaluable weapon for quarterback Joe Flacco, whose season was also cut short by an Achilles injury.

While he hasn’t publicly wavered from his retirement stance, Ravens wideout Steve Smith Sr. is leaning toward returning for the 2016 season, according to Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com. Citing “several people close to” Smith, La Canfora reports that the veteran receiver is already talking about coming back, adding that he scheduled a quick surgery for next Monday to repair his torn Achilles.

Even before Smith went down with his season-ending Achilles injury on Sunday, there had been whispers in recent weeks that 2015 may not be his last season after all. That speculation likely stemmed in part from his production on the field — heading into Week 8, the 36-year-old has grabbed 41 balls for 588 yards and three touchdowns, averaging 98 yards per game — the second-highest mark of his career.

Following the injury, head coach John Harbaugh said he had “a feeling” that Smith would be back next season, while running back Justin Forsett was among the Ravens players who said he’d be “whispering in [Smith’s] ear” to encourage a return for 2016.

Smith has one more year left on his contract with the Ravens, and is due a base salary of $3MM in ’16.

If Steve Smith intends to follow through on his plans for retirement, he may have just played in his last game, as Ravens head coach John Harbaugh confirmed to reporters that the veteran receiver tore his Achilles during today’s contest against the Chargers (Twitter link). Smith will miss the remainder of the year, and given that he has vowed to call it a career after the season, the mercurial pass-catcher may have seen his final game action.

At 36 years old, Smith was in the middle of a second consecutive solid season with Baltimore, averaging nearly 100 yards receiving per game and having scored three times. The three-time All Pro, who caught 79 balls for more than 1,000 yards and six touchdowns during his first year with the Ravens, would finish with the 11th-most receiving yards in league history, with nearly 14,000.

Whether Smith actually retires is an open question, and one that Harbaugh addressed today in his remarks to reporters. “I have a feeling Steve Smith will be back,” said Harbaugh. Later, in a message to Smith, Harbaugh said, “You’re going to write the final chapter of your career in a way that nobody expects” (Twitter links). Within the past several weeks, Smith confirmed that he was “still on schedule” to retire at season’s end, but even his agent is not convinced. It’s fair to wonder if this painful end to his season, in addition to Baltimore’s disappointing year as a team, will force Smith to reconsider.

More pressing for the Ravens is how to replace Smith in the starting lineup. Kamar Aiken figures to see more targets with Smith out of action, while Marlon Brown and recent trade addition Chris Givens could also be in line for additional work until first-round pick Breshad Perriman returns from a PCL injury (and perhaps presuming Perriman returns at all this season is a mistake).

If Smith does reverse his decision and return for the 2016 season, he’d be playing under the third and final year of a deal he signed prior to the 2014 season. He’d be paid a base salary of $3MM, and account for a cap hit of roughly $4.17MM.

Ravens receiver Steve Smith Sr. said earlier this year that this season would be his last in the NFL, and addressed that decision again last week by saying he’s “still on schedule” to retire at season’s end. However, there are still plenty of skeptics who don’t believe Smith will call it a career, and one of those skeptics is his agent, Derrick Fox, as ESPN’s Jim Trotter details.

“I know this guy better than anybody but his wife,” Fox said. “I’ve told him, ‘I don’t think that you’re really going to retire.’ The guy is just an insane competitor, and I think as long as his body works appropriately he’s really going to have a hard time next August saying, ‘Oh, wow. Guys are going to camp.’ He’s never experienced it in his entire life, and he’s got a lot left in the tank.”

As Fox tells it, Smith said early in his NFL career that he only planned to play for three or four years before retiring to spend time with his family, so he’s long been “committed to the concept” of retirement. However, the agent remains unconvinced that his client is ready to step away from the game quite yet. Asked to handicap the odds of Smith retiring after the 2015 season, Fox called it a 50-50 chance.

Even in his 15th NFL season, Smith does seem to have plenty left in the tank, as Fox suggests. In six games for Baltimore this season, the 36-year-old has grabbed 41 balls for 588 yards and three touchdowns, averaging 98 yards per game — the second-highest mark of his career.

Smith will have one year left on his three-year contract with the Ravens after 2015.

FRIDAY, 12:22pm: Ravens head coach John Harbaugh confirmed today that the team has no plans to trade Smith, telling reporters, “There is no chance of that. I wouldn’t part with him” (Twitter link). According to Smith, he would retire immediately if the Ravens traded him: “I like to finish what I started” (Twitter link via Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun).

THURSDAY, 5:08pm: Wide receiver Steve Smith Sr. said earlier this week that he’s “still on schedule” to retire at season’s end and that has led some to speculate that the 1-5 Ravens might move him to a contender for his final campaign. However, a source told Eric Edholm of Yahoo Sports that such a deal is unlikely to happen. In fact, Baltimore is more likely to try and convince him to change his mind about retiring and return for the 2016 season.

Smith has already talked things over with GM Ozzie Newsome, according to the report, and Newsome informed Smith that he won’t be going anywhere between now and the trade deadline on November 3rd. Smith, 36, has 36 catches for 510 yards and three touchdowns through five ames. The 510 yards put him 12th in the NFL despite him missing a full game with four broken bones in his back, and his 102 receiving yards per game place him fourth in the league among qualified receivers.

With Smith likely off the trade market, that eliminates one receiver possibility for the 6-0 Packers, who are without Jordy Nelson for the 2015 season. The 5-0 Panthers are another team that could use help at the position, but it was hard to imagine a reunion there anyway given the frosty relationship between Smith and GM Dave Gettleman.

Smith signed a three-year contract with the Ravens prior to the 2014 season and remains under contract for 2016. Interestingly, Edholm hears from a source that Newsome is believed to have told Smith that the team has no intentions of trying to recoup any of his prorated signing bonus – $3.5MM – for not fulfilling the final year of his deal.

“[Smith] trusts them,” the source told Yahoo Sports. “I don’t think he’d be happy if they did suddenly trade him out of the blue, but he believes they have no plans of that anyway.”

The question now is – can the Ravens convince Smith to play out that 2016 season? While Smith seems comfortable in his decision, another season playing at a high level could further strengthen his chances of going to the Hall of Fame. Smith seems likely to bypass several notable names to place ninth in all-time receiving yards, but he may need more games to leapfrog the likes of Reggie Wayne and Marvin Harrison.