Agent's Take: Meet the men driving up free-agent prices
Players such as Brock Osweiler, Von Miller, Eric Weddle and Kirk Cousins will be looking to break the bank on their next deals. Here's a look at the agents tasked with landing those contracts.
By
Joel Corry
•
8 min read
Legend has it that Packers head coach Vince Lombardi promptly traded All-Pro center Jim Ringo to the Eagles in 1964 when he brought an agent with him to a meeting about a new contract. The incident may just be folklore, but things have changed dramatically over the last 50 years. It is unusual nowadays when a player represents himself in a contract negotiation like Russell Okung is doing.
The prevailing view among sports fans is agents are money grubbers responsible for breaking up their favorite teams by making outrageous financial demands for clients. Most agents have their clients' best interests at heart and don't fit the negative stereotypes embodied by the most unscrupulous individuals in the profession.
Contrary to popular belief, agents don't receive 10 percent of their clients' contracts. The respective players' associations regulate the fees an agent can charge. The most an agent can receive for negotiating an NFL playing contract is three percent. This amount may soon drop to two percent.
Here's a look at the agents that will play the biggest role in helping shape the NFL landscape during free agency and the rest of the offseason. Considerable weight was given to the magnitude of the player being represented, the number of clients an agent has that will sign new contracts and the anticipated value of those deals.
Joby Branion (Vanguard Sports Group)
Branion left Athletes First, who represents two-time MVP Aaron Rodgers and Earl Thomas, after 13 years to strike out on his own a year and a half ago. While at Athletes First, Branion signed Super Bowl 50 MVP Von Miller. In a unique arrangement, he still represents Miller along with the firm he helped found.
Branion will try to make Miller the NFL highest-paid defensive player by topping the six-year, $114.375 million deal containing $59.955 million fully guaranteed that defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh received from the Dolphins as an unrestricted free agent last year. It will be a difficult proposition because Miller was given an exclusive franchise tag by the Broncos. If Miller signs a long-term deal it will certainly be more than outside linebacker Justin Houston got last summer as the Chiefs' franchise player. His six-year contract with $52.5 million in guarantees averages $16,833,333 per year.
David Canter (DEC Management)
The Dolphins putting a $12.734 million transition tag on defensive end Olivier Vernon shouldn't preclude Canter from getting an extremely lucrative offer sheet from a team with an abundance of salary cap room, like the Jaguars, that will be difficult to match.
Canter also represents two of the top available defensive backs, cornerback Sean Smith and safety Eric Weddle. When Smith was a free agent in 2013, it was a bad market for cornerbacks. He should reach a much different financial stratosphere than three years ago because he has elevated his level of play since leaving Miami and 6-foot-3 press coverage cornerbacks weighing 216 pounds are a rarity. A change of scenery for Weddle is practically a certainty because he wore out his welcome with the San Diego Chargers. Although Weddle, 31, didn't earn All-Pro honors for the first time since 2009, it's hard to imagine him being interested in a deal less than the $8 million per year in his expiring contract that was signed five years ago.
Tom Condon (Creative Artists Agency Football)
The former Chief started representing players in the mid-1980s while his own playing career was winding down. Condon represents several prominent quarterbacks, including Drew Brees, Eli Manning, Matt Ryan, Alex Smith, Matthew Stafford and the newly-retired Peyton Manning. The Saints and Condon have had discussions about lowering Brees' league-high $30 million 2016 salary cap number through a contract extension. Condon has the leverage to make Brees the NFL's highest-paid player as he enters the final year of the five-year, $100 million deal he signed in 2012 to become the NFL's first $20 million-per-year player and reset the league's pay scale. It remains to be seen whether Brees will let Condon exploit the leverage or give the Saints some sort of hometown discount.
Condon has already made his mark on the offseason. He got Sam Bradford, who has never come close to living up to the potential that made him the 2010 NFL draft's first-overall pick, a two-year, $35 million contract with $22 million fully guaranteed ($40.5 million maximum through salary escalators and incentives) as the March 1 franchise/transition designation period was ending to keep him with the Eagles.
Damon Harrison, the best nose tackle available on the open market, is a client. Some of his other free agent clients include wide receiver Anquan Boldin, tight end Antonio Gates and inside linebacker James Laurinaitis.
Ben Dogra (Relativity Sports)
Dogra, who also represents Adrian Peterson and Richard Sherman, was recently suspended for three years and fined $200,000 by the NFLPA for numerous violations of their agent regulations. Since Dogra appealed the discipline, he is allowed to continue representing his existing clients until a final resolution.
The Redskins parted ways with Robert Griffin III before his $16.155 million fifth-year option became fully guaranteed on the first day of the 2016 league year, which is March 9. Dogra's best opportunity for the 2011 Heisman Trophy winner to immediately become a starting quarterback again is probably with the Rams. It's conceivable that Griffin will sign a one-year deal as a backup somewhere with a base value less than the $3,269,877 he made from the Redskins last season if an opportunity to start doesn't materialize.
Defensive end Mario Williams has generated a lot of interest after the Bills let him go in a salary cap purge. One of Dogra's goals will be to get Williams at least the $14.5 million he was scheduled to make from Buffalo as first-year compensation in a deal with a new team. Dogra also has right tackle Andre Smith, who didn't re-sign with the Bengals in 2013 until the NFL draft approached and after the market didn't develop in free agency as he had anticipated.
Mike McCartney (Priority Sports & Entertainment)
McCartney drove such a hard bargain while negotiating with the Redskins that quarterback Kirk Cousins was given a $19.953 million tag, which was promptly signed. An agreement can still be reached before the July 15 deadline for franchise players to sign multi-year contracts. Any long-term deal that would be acceptable to McCartney would probably have to be in the neighborhood of $20 million per year with $60 million in guarantees.
McCartney is the co-agent with colleague Deryk Gilmore for Mitchell Schwartz, who should become the NFL's highest-paid pure right tackle. McCartney will figure prominently in the wide receiver market with Mohamed Sanu. He also has defensive tackle Haloti Ngata, who is completing an extremely frontload five-year, $61 million contract, and recently released running back Arian Foster.
Brian Murphy (Athletes First)
Murphy is the second in command to agency CEO David Dunn, who represents Rodgers and 2002 Heisman Trophy winner Carson Palmer. Murphy is a co-agent of Kelechi Osemele with colleagues Andrew Kessler and David Mulugheta. The versatile Osemele should get the richest free agent contract of any offensive lineman. He reportedly has an agreement in principle with the Raiders in excess of $10 million per year.
Murphy has Doug Martin, the top free agent ball carrier. Unfortunately for Murphy, it's been a buyer's market with running backs in recent years. Prior to DeMarco Murray getting a five-year, $40 million contract (worth a maximum of $42 million through salary escalators) with $21 million in guarantees from the Eagles last year, Michael Turner in 2008 was the last running back to switch teams in free agency with a deal over $5 million per year.
Murphy also represents defensive lineman B.J. Raji, who has yet to land a big payday when on the open market.
Eugene Parker (Relativity Sports)
Parker raised the bar dramatically for wide receiver salaries in 2011 when he negotiated Larry Fitzgerald's seven-year, $113 million contract extension, which included $45 million in guarantees, with the Arizona Cardinals. He will be looking to make Chicago Bears franchise player Alshon Jeffery one of the NFL's highest-paid wide receivers even though nagging leg injuries limited him to nine games in 2015.
Parker has a challenging situation with defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul, who is reportedly returning to the Giants on a one-year deal. It's hard to value Pierre-Paul because of the Fourth of July fireworks accident that resulted in the amputation of his right index finger and injuries to other parts of his hand and caused him to miss half of the 2015 season.
Drew Rosenhaus (Rosenhaus Sports Representation)
Rosenhaus landed his first client, cornerback Robert Massey, in 1989, as a law school student at Duke University. Some of Rosenhaus' current higher-profile clients are Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown and Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski. The agent reportedly just struck a four-year, $29.4 million deal for tight end Dwayne Allen to remain with the Colts.
Rosenhaus may have his work cut out for him finding defensive end Greg Hardy a deal comparable to the one-year contract with a base value of $8,822,629 (worth up to $10,627,029 through incentives) he got him from the Cowboys last year. A majority of teams probably view Hardy as more trouble than he's worth.
Rosenhaus is going to be one of the busiest agents during free agency since he represents inside linebacker Jerrell Freeman, defensive tackle Jaye Howard, defensive end Charles Johnson, restricted free agent linebacker Brandon Marshall, offensive guard Evan Mathis, running back Lamar Miller, tight end Ben Watson and defensive tackle Ian Williams.
Joel Segal (Lagardere Unlimited)
Segal made Chiefs franchise player Justin Houston the NFL's second-highest-paid non-quarterback last summer with a six-year, $101 million contract. He has another franchise player this year with Rams cornerback Trumaine Johnson. Segal represents outside linebacker Bruce Irvin, who has enough of his former Seahawks coaches as defensive coordinators (Raiders' Ken Norton, Jr.) and head coaches (Jaguars' Gus Bradley and Falcons' Dan Quinn) that he should attract considerable interest. He also has a few free agent clients, such as running backs Reggie Bush and Chris Johnson, wide receiver Percy Harvin and quarterback Mike Vick, that are either at a career crossroads or on the downside of their careers.
Jimmy Sexton (Creative Artists Agency Football)
Sexton reset the non-quarterback market during free agency last year by negotiating Suh's blockbuster deal. He won't make the same type of splash in free agency this year but may hold the key to the veteran quarterback market. Sexton, who was all-time great Reggie White's long-time agent, represents Ryan Fitzpatrick and Brock Osweiler.
Joel Corry is a former sports agent who helped found Premier Sports & Entertainment, a sports management firm that represents professional athletes and coaches. Before his tenure at Premier, Joel worked for Management Plus Enterprises, which represented Shaquille O'Neal, Hakeem Olajuwon and Ronnie Lott.
You can follow him on Twitter: @corryjoel | You can email him at jccorry@gmail.com
