An Agent's Perspective on NFL Free Agency

An Agent’s Perspective on NFL Free Agency

By Matt Bowen

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2387349-an-agents-perspective-on-nfl-free-agency

Forget the “three-day window,” opening Saturday, for free agents and teams to negotiate. Forget the NFL’s “new year,” which begins Tuesday, when offers are allowed to be officially made and accepted.

For NFL agents, free-agent negotiations opened in January.

That’s when all the top agents made the trip down to Mobile, Alabama, to watch the Senior Bowl, walk the fence line and chat up scouts during practice, dine at Wintzell’s Oyster House, grab some BBQ at the Brick Pit and—most importantly—start selling their top clients. That’s when the hush-hush conversations began about who’s interested in who and for how much.

Beyond being a stage for draft prospects to showcase their skill sets, the Senior Bowl is also one of the NFL’s largest gatherings of team executives, which makes it the perfect starting point for negotiations.

Veteran agent Jack Bechta, who represented me during my playing career and has negotiated deals for players on all three tiers of the market during his time in the business, knows the drill down in Mobile.

“The goal there is to try and start negotiating, see where the market place is and develop a market,” Bechta told me recently. “Have meetings with the top teams that would be a good fit and you know are willing to pay the most money.”

The dialogue between agents and teams continues in February at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, where agents visit teams in their hotel suites and possible deals are discussed.

The NFL has been very clear on its stance:

” It is impermissible for a club to enter into an agreement of any kind, express or implied, oral or written, or promises, undertakings, representations, commitments, inducements, assurances of intent or understandings of any kind concerning the terms or conditions of employment offered to, or to be offered to, any prospective unrestricted free agent for inclusion in a player contract after the start of the new league year”.

But everyone I’ve spoken to in the business understands how important it is to meet with team executives in January and February, to set the groundwork for the contract that will be thrown down on the table in March.

“This is how business gets done—and everyone knows it,” Bechta told me. “If you are too weary about pushing the envelope in that area, you’re not doing your job.”

As an agent, the job at this stage is to make every team feel like it is his client’s No. 1 destination. And it doesn’t hurt to get teams involved that historically overpay or enter free agency with tons of cap space. That’s how agents drive up the price and improve the market for their clients.

The goal for agents is to leave Indianapolis with at least three “offers,” then finalize a deal at least 24 hours before the beginning of the new league year.

The schedule is a bit different for negotiating with a player’s current team. Those discussions are started before the season. The agent works to establish the player’s value to the squad and also discusses the ramifications of the team letting him hit the market. Deadlines will be set for in-season negotiations, and if the current club fails to present an offer that matches the market value, it drops down to the bottom of the list once free agency starts.

The majority of the top players on the market want to stay with their current teams and avoid uprooting their families in the middle of the school year. But as I wrote Friday, the numbers have to be right.

And how do they know if the numbers are right? The agent uses “comps,” previous contracts signed by players of the same skill level at a player’s respective position. For example, Ndamukong Suh’s agent can use J.J. Watt’s contract as a comp, Devin McCourty can play off Earl Thomas’ new deal down the line and so on.

Where it gets tougher is on that second line, the midtier free agents, where a player can often bring more value to a specific team based on scheme or playbook. Think about a slot receiver in New England, compared to Chicago; or a nickel back in Lovie Smith’s Tampa 2 system, versus a pressure-based defense that plays much more man coverage in the secondary. That creates different values for the midtier players looking to get the best deal.

Teams can often get steals from this midtier group, but it’s also where they can screw up and overpay.

In these situations, the agent plays a major role in trying to set the market, starting discussions at the Senior Bowl and combine. January and February are a great time to bluff in terms of numbers and bonus money on the table. However, agents don’t want to overplay their hand, and they can’t keep their clients on the market too long as the cash starts to dry up.

“The money usually gets worse, not better, as time goes on,” Bechta said. “First money is best money. But it’s always good to take those guys out to the secondary marketplace, because their original teams will usually sign those guys back and match the market.”

For the lower-tier veterans, role players, backups and developmental guys, agents think more about placement. For some agents, that means getting their players matched up with the best teams. This creates exposure on the prime-time national TV stage and could turn a minimum-salary contract into a premium one if a young player has a breakout season.

Other agents look for low-risk deals with developmental guys that include multiple seasons so they have more opportunities—a place a player can get on the field and compete with the current roster.

“Where can this player play more?” Bechta said. “You’re really splitting hairs on the money. You take the known versus the unknown. Take less risk with those players.”

For the top vets on the market, the deals are probably close to being finalized. Their agents have been working on their deals for months. The lower-tier free agents might need to wait their turn to find a home. But regardless, if we are talking about Suh or a developmental prospect, it’s on the agent to sell his client while creating the best deal—and placement—possible for the 2015 season