Agents spill the beans
Rate NFL’s best-worst decision-makers
Congrats, Bruce Allen. According to a sampling of agents, you’re the least-trusted decision-maker in the entire NFL.
“You never know if he’s shooting straight with you,” a veteran agent told USA TODAY under the condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue.
And to think Allen, Washington’s team president, was an agent during the early 1990s. Now he’s on the other side, with competition for his dubious distinction coming from the likes of Dolphins executive vice president
Mike Tannenbaum and Bengals owner Mike Brown.
The impressions regarding the people and teams encountered in the league, amid negotiations of multimillion-dollar deals, were among the most revealing sentiments expressed by a group of 25 agents who participated in a poll that I conducted with colleague Lindsay H. Jones over the past 51⁄
2 weeks. (Agents were granted anonymity for their survey responses due to the sensitive nature of the topics and risk of business-related ramifications.)
We heard quite a bit from some of the NFL’s most respected agents during a hectic time that spanned the throes of free agency. Yes, they naturally insist that former Louisville quarterback Lamar Jackson needs to hire one of them. No, they overwhelmingly don’t feel better about the 10-year collective bargaining agreement, despite the salary cap rising at least $10 million for five consecutive years to the current level of
$177.2 million.
“I don’t think the PA is all that strong,” said one agent, referring to the NFL Players Association.
“I don’t know what kind of preparation they’ve made so that we’ll have a different result when the CBA expires (in 2020),” the agent added.
“I don’t know what will be different from the last time, when we got our ass- es handed to us.”
That sentiment was expressed repeatedly, signaling frustration with NFLPA leadership and union chief DeMaurice Smith specifically.
No, this survey isn’t scientific. While the number of agents who responded represent a small number of the total certified by the NFLPA in 2017 (830), they do represent a cross section of a growing landscape. And their impressions paint interesting pictures.
Consider the two most respected NFL decision-makers: Ozzie Newsome and Bill Belichick. It’s tough to argue with this result. Newsome, the Ravens general manager who edged Belichick by one vote, has built two Super Bowl winners and has added cachet as a Hall of Fame player. Belichick has built a dynasty as the Patriots coach. A duo that once worked together with the Browns two decades ago underscored the notion that it isn’t persona that garners respect. The common denominator is nononsense professionalism.
One agent said of Newsome: “You can sit down and have a frank discussion with him. He won’t pull punches, but he’s fair.”
Another agent, who respects Belichick, offered: “Strictly business. Seems like there’s no emotion. Guy gets benched right before the Super Bowl. Harsh. It works, but it’s harsh.”
Belichick’s near-autonomous power seems like a factor given only one other coach — Kansas City’s Andy Reid — got a vote on the respect question.
Not everyone is so enamored.
Belichick was one of three names (including Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and Browns GM John Dorsey) named for both “most respect” and “least trusted.”
Meanwhile, Brown’s Bengals have work to do to raise their credibility. Cincinnati drew nearly double the amount of responses to the question of “worst prepared” for contract negotiations. Interestingly, each of the agents who chose the Browns for that distinction added a caveat: pre-Dorsey. Cleveland, having replaced Sashi Brown last December, now has a clean slate.
Sentiments about specifics of the labor deal were wide ranging. Criticism about the swing in revenue that favors owners is old news. Yet as the clock ticks toward expiration of the 10-year pact, there’s a definite clue from agents about one component of the CBA they would revise or eliminate in the next one: the rookie wage scale.
“The first-round money was taken away with the idea that it would be used to increase veteran salaries, but that has been skewed,” an agent said.
Many grumble that even with a rookie wage scale, the NFL’s middle class — which once was robust with veterans who provided quality depth — has nearly vanished.
Quarterback salaries have skyrocketed and the value of elite players at premium positions continues to escalate with a salary cap that’s risen nearly $60 million since 2012.
But in paying the stars, the bottom half of most rosters is filled with minimum-salary players.
“You have large swaths of young and old on the teams,” another agent said. “There’s no middle class, with such a significant experience gap. If a team has an A-plus tackle get injured, he’s replaced by a C-plus backup. Maybe.”
Furthermore, agents largely detest that in a sport with inherent injury risk, first-round picks can be tied up for even longer nowadays before becoming eligible for free agency, with teams able to exercise fifth-year options and later able to tack on franchise tags to retain their rights. Add to that the fact that players can’t renegotiate until after the third year of their rookie deals.
Long gone are the days when former union chief Gene Upshaw praised massive rookie deals because they became bargaining chips that increased leverage for veterans to land richer deals.
“The rookie system is just weighted too heavily toward management,” an agent summarized.
As a group, the agents polled typically expressed passion about their industry — including the challenges in competing for their services — and their role in the nation’s most popular sport.
And that passion could even be measured on a stopwatch. The first agent to participate talked for 27 minutes. The next one went for 35 over two phone conversations. Another agent weighed in for 43 minutes. And the “recordholder” indulged us for 49 minutes of his precious time.
When passionate people have things to get off their chests, you listen.
And learn.