 He's likely gone after this year. He's been incredible, but I am not giving him a boatload of money at his age. I would not have wanted to give Mike Evans this money. There was concern. Mike Evans is a total bust for me this season. I told my agent that I wanted to hit for your agency just to, you know, see what was out there. I wanted him to be like that Derek Jeter for Tampa Bay. I wanted to make sure we had Baker back. I understand why people are scared of Baker Mayfield, too. Baker Mayfield is a bust. None of us want to lose Mike. Can't help but sometimes fear for the worst. We've been working on this deal for a little over two years. Mike just called me and he wants to be a buck for life. Arguably the quietest hall of fame career a receiver has ever had. Ten straight thousand yard seasons. Mike Evans breaks it, tackles over a thousand yards again. Man's going to get himself a very handsome contract. Five time pro bowler. Look at Mike Evans. How many times have we seen him do this? Super Bowl champion. Tampa Bay Buccaneers have a second Super Bowl title in franchise history. For Mike Evans, his outstanding resume began at the 2014 NFL Draft. I'm Derek Gilmour, the CEO and owner of Day One Sports and Entertainment. I played ball at Penn State, won a national championship there. So many people would say you need to be a sports agent. You be a great sports agent. Just trusted God with that message. And I was blessed to have a first rounder in my first class, Halote Nata. Seven first rounders later, I'm here right now talking to you. Mike is one of those players. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers select Mike Evans, wide receiver, Texas A&M. I was watching Mike on TV. He was a physical, just monster. And I sent my application into A&M to go meet with the school and was fortunate enough to have a chance to meet with him. And you never know how these means go, but I just realized he loved football. He had a passion for football, that same passion that I had. And there was just a connection, and I just thought we'd be a great fit. As Evans continued his NFL dominance, his agent, Derek Gilmour, handled the financials, including a major $82.5 million extension in 2018. But when those five years passed, the next contract became a bit more difficult to land. Mike Evans' agent, Derek Gilmour of Day One Sports, will cut off negotiations with the Buccaneers if a deal is not reached. Can you address the deadline that your agent set forth? Yeah, my agent set the deadline. I mean, I'm sure y'all read the statement. Preseason August 2023, when that deadline was set, what was the intention of setting that deadline for you? Just for them to make a decision, are they going to want to, you know, extend me now? And if not, then, you know, we'll just play the season out and, you know, see what happens at the end of the season. I thought was, you know what, I'm just cutting off because I didn't want reporters to be coming to him every day, every week. So what's the deal? What's, no, we don't want to be, we're football guys, Mike and I. We don't want to be a distraction. We want to make sure we focus on the game and everything else will take care of itself later. It's not just, oh, for the rest of the season. I think he's cutting off negotiations, period. Was a chaos around here? What was it like around the facilities? There was concern. None of us want to lose Mike from ownership on down. We all envisioned Mike being a buck for life. But me, it was really personal. It was a very concerning, concerning moment. You can't help, but sometimes fear for the worst. As the pressure was put on General Manager Jason Light, the deadline for an extension had passed. Evans was set to become a free agent following the 2023 season. I went to focus on playing ball because I'm already under contract. You know, I had no choice. I had to play and I had to, like, have my mind clear. I knew he was going to have a great year. Baker was coming in. I promise you, Baker is going to, you know, get Mike the ball. I said he's going to have a great year and this is going to cost you more later on. Here were many thought he would decline. Mike Evans had yet another amazing season, getting 1200 yards and 13 touchdowns on 79 catch hits. The transition from Tom Brady to Baker Mayfield was seamless. That's the Mike Evans we've seen for a decade. Your best abilities, your availability. Well, Mike plays all the time. Once the season ended, Gilmore and Evans reopened negotiations with the Bucks. Kind of made it clear that we're going to wait. Mike did want to wait until the end of the season, but I had conversations with him all season. Locker room practice after games. That let you know, Mike, we're going to get something done. We're going to work on this. We're going to get it done. We got to the point where we're at the combine talking and we decided that we needed to amp this up and get it done. I think, you know, the kind of just to give you the gist. We were about four, maybe four million apart. What was like the most important thing that you were looking for? Was it like security financially? Was it like family? I mean, the money is one thing. I mean, obviously I want somebody I wasn't looking to be the highest pay player in the league or anything like that. I'm the highest pay receiver in the league, but I definitely wanted a good guarantee, you know, out of it. However, they were still far apart. The decision was officially made to enter free agency. I told my agent that I wanted to hit free agency. Just to, you know, see what was out there. I was like, this is where they're at. And he was like, that's that's good offer. But I really want to go to free agency and see what my value is. Every player has a right to checked out situations that for their betterment of them personally, their family, their livelihood. You never take a player like Mike for granted. Just being honest, there were many, many nights that I felt like fear the worst that he wouldn't come back. I mean, I live in Atlanta. I thought Atlanta could be a great fit. I thought the Chiefs could be a fit. I thought the Jets, the Giants. I thought the Rams have an explosive offense in our fun team. Mike is from Houston, having a chance to go home. He's a Texas native seeing him in that cowboy star. I'm a top five receiver and that's where we wanted to go with him. Get him at the top five deal. Despite the expected interest in free agency, the Buccaneer stayed persistent a week before the free agency period began. Evans made his decision. I know it's late. I want to just hit you up to Mike just called me and he wants to be a buck for life. I know it's great. I'm excited bro. I'm just glad we just kept hammering at this. We got a little bit more to go, but I think we'll get it done. The Bucs were number one the whole time. So after I thought about it, it didn't make sense. You know, if I wanted to go to the Bucs, they offered me everything that I wanted and then, you know, me and my wife, you know, we came to the decision like we should stay in Tampa. Mike just, it's important to him that Baker is back. I wanted to make sure we had Baker back. Yeah, but you know, I've been here 10 years and I don't see myself going anywhere else. So, you know, I saw it even before, you know, knowing what the outcome of his situation would be. Tampa, I know how much I mean to me. This has always been home. I'm much appreciative to the Glazer family, to my agents, to the front office, Jason, Mike, to my teammates and the coaches. I love you and I can't wait to win some ball games. No Bucs. He's, I think, the best offensive player to ever play for the Buccaneers. We talk about him every day. My kids grew up their whole lives knowing Mike Evans. There was a moment when I didn't know if Mike was coming back, that my wife was writing a letter to Mike and Ashley, thanking them for everything that they mean to us, our kids. So, I'm glad he's back. In the first, I wanted to do a three-year deal though. I made more sense and Mike was just like, you know what? I want to do a two-year deal. And I was like, you got it, you know, he'll play two or three more years, maybe five more years. And I think he'll do that at a high level. Would you say the next stop is Canton? You know, I saw him working towards, you know, I pray about it all the time. It's definitely something I want to accomplish, but it's something that every NFL player like wants to make. Like, that's the elite of the elite. The history of the game means a lot to me. What kind of legacy do you want to leave behind? Solid legacy, you know, want some games, you know, broke records, you know, make some good coin, you know, took care of his family, you know, helped out the community.