Agent's Take: The unusual case of top two QBs sharing the same agent
It's not often that the top two quarterback prospects, who are expected to be the top two picks overall in the draft, have the same representation. Here's how it happened, what it means, and potential challenges ahead in negotiations.
By
Joel Corry
•
6 min read
Rep1 Sports, led by cousins Bruce and Ryan Tollner, is in a no-lose situation with the 2016 NFL Draft, which begins on Thursday. The Tollners will have the first-overall pick regardless of the Rams' quarterback choice, because Jared Goff and Carson Wentz are both Rep 1 clients. Barring an unforeseen turn of events, the Tollners will represent the first two players drafted, with Goff expected to be the Rams' choice and Wentz likely heading to the Eagles.
Rep 1 has quickly become a major player in quarterback representation world. The Tollners negotiated a four-year, $87.4 million contract extension for Ben Roethlisberger with the Steelers early last offseason. At the time, the extension made Roethlisberger the NFL's second-highest-paid player by average yearly salary at $21.85 million per year. The deal also had the best three-year cash flow of any NFL contract at $65 million before subsequent extensions by Eli Manning, Philip Rivers and Cam Newton.
The Tollners have really made their mark in recent NFL drafts. Rep 1 has represented top quarterback prospects in each of the last two last years. Blake Bortles went third overall to the Jaguars in 2014 as the first quarterback taken. Marcus Mariota was selected second overall in last year's draft.
Recruiting dynamics
An agent representing the top two players at a position, particularly quarterback, let alone two of the top five players in a draft is unusual. Quarterbacks have been the first two picks in the draft on five occasions since 1990. The following chart illustrates how rare it is.
| Top quarterbacks and their representation | ||||
| Year | Pick | Name | Club | Agent |
| 2015 | 1 | Jameis Winston | Buccaneers | Greg Genske/Kenny Felder |
| 2015 | 2 | Marcus Mariota | Chargers | Ryan Tollner/Bruce Tollner/Chase Callahan |
| 2012 | 1 | Andrew Luck | Colts | Will Wilson |
| 2012 | 2 | Robert Griffin III | Redskins | Ben Dogra |
| 1999 | 1 | Tim Couch | Browns | Tom Condon |
| 1999 | 2 | Donovan McNabb | Eagles | Fletcher Smith |
| 1999 | 3 | Akili Smith | Bengals | Leigh Steinberg |
| 1998 | 1 | Peyton Manning | Colts | Tom Condon |
| 1998 | 2 | Ryan Leaf | Chargers | Leigh Steinberg |
| 1993 | 1 | Drew Bledsoe | Patriots | Leigh Steinberg |
| 1993 | 2 | Rick Mirer | Seahawks | Marvin Demoff |
None of the quarterbacks chose the same agent. In fact, the last time an agency represented the first two picks was 2009. Creative Artists Agency Football had Matthew Stafford (Lions), whose primary agent was Tom Condon, while No. 2 pick Jason Smith's (Rams) primary agent was Ben Dogra.
When I was still an agent, a recurring topic in meetings with prospective clients and their parents was the other prospects being recruited at the player's position. Most weren't comfortable with the idea of signing with us if we were going to also represent another main competitor at their position because it was perceived as a conflict of interest. In some cases, the concern was legitimate.
There are cases where such a concern can be unfounded. For example, simultaneously representing Laquon Treadwell (Mississippi) and Will Fuller (Notre Dame), top wide receiver prospects in this year's draft, wouldn't be problematic because they may not appeal to the same NFL teams due to their different strengths. Treadwell is a big wide receiver with great ball skills that lacks ideal speed. He ran the 40 yard dash in 4.63 second at his pro day. Fuller is an undersized vertical threat who has drawn comparisons to Mike Wallace and DeSean Jackson.
Goff and Wentz not fitting into the classic case of competitors during the recruiting process to be the first quarterback taken, like Peyton Manning and Ryan Leaf, may have worked to the Rep 1's advantage. Goff was viewed early on during the 2015 college football season as a potential high first-round pick if he decided to declare for the draft as an underclassman. Wentz's senior season at North Dakota State against inferior competition was derailed by a broken right wrist that sidelined him for eight games until his return in the FCS Championship Game. An impressive Senior Bowl, NFL combine and pro day workout helped raise Wentz's draft stock.
Rep 1 was also in the mix with Paxton Lynch, who is regarded as the third-best quarterback prospect, according to other agents and a couple of teams with whom I spoke. Lynch signed with another agent, Leigh Steinberg, because he wasn't comfortable with having the same representation as Goff. Since Goff signed with the Tollners first, he had de facto veto power over the Wentz signing. If Goff had been uncomfortable with the idea of Wentz becoming a Rep 1 client, recruiting of Wentz likely would have stopped, out of fear of losing Goff to another agent with the prospect of another top quarterback draft candidate coming onboard.
Negotiation challenges
The Rams are expected to sign the first-overall pick to a fully guaranteed four-year contract in the neighborhood of $27.05 million with a signing bonus of almost $18 million. The second-overall pick is expected to get close to $25.85 million fully guaranteed with slightly less than $17 million as signing bonus on a four-year contract from the Eagles.
There are very few negotiable items with rookie contracts under the rookie wage scale implemented after the lockout in 2011, which has quickened the pace of signings and essentially eliminated rookie holdouts. Each pick has a salary floor and ceiling based on draft position. All contracts are four years in length, but teams have an option for a fifth year with first-round picks that must be exercised after the third year of the deal.
The primary negotiating issue with the contracts for early first-round picks is whether the guarantees will have offsets. An offset clause allows a team to reduce the guaranteed money owed to a player when he is released by the amount of his new deal with another team. The player receives his salary from the team that released him in addition to the full salary from his new contract with another club when there isn't an offset (also known as "double dipping"). Practically speaking, the offset issue will only come into play in the latter years of rookie deals if the player is a disappointment.
Almost every team is now requiring offsets with salary guarantees for players taken near the top of the draft. As a compromise, teams are structuring deals containing minimum base salaries in the final three years with the remainder of a player's salary in annual roster bonuses that are fully guaranteed on the third or fifth day of training camp.
The Tollners shouldn't have any problem reaching an agreement with the Rams because of an established team precedent of first-round picks receiving guarantees without offsets. This practice began with Robert Quinn, the 14th pick in the 2011 draft. The policy has extended to Todd Gurley, who was the 10th-overall pick in last year's draft.
The Tollners' negotiations with the Eagles could be a different story. The Eagles are sensitive to offsets because of Nnamdi Asomugha's 2011 deal, which made him the NFL's highest-paid cornerback. $4 million of his 2013 base salary was fully guaranteed without an offset when he was released in March 2013 after he refused to a take a substantial pay cut. Asomugha collected the $4 million from the Eagles in addition to the almost $800,000 he made from the 49ers before being released eight games into the 2013 season. The Eagles haven't done a deal without an offset since parting ways with Asomugha.
The Tollners will want both quarterbacks to be treated the same with the offset issue. Compounding the problem is that the Tollners were able to get the Titans to make concessions to Marcus Mariota with offsets when their previous first-round picks under the rookie wage scale had them. He received training camp roster bonuses in the final three years of his deal totaling slightly more than $6.05 million without offsets, while the base salaries at his league minimums had offsets. Mariota was the last first-round pick to sign in 2015, with his contract being completed about 10 days before the start of training camp.
It remains to be seen whether a dispute over offsets will produce the first rookie holdout since 2013. The Eagles plan on making 2016 a redshirt season for the No. 2 pick, which could decrease the urgency for either side to concede the issue, since getting him ready to play in the season opener won't be a motivation to break a potential impasse.
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
