If the NFL were to get the wage scale that it has proposed in negotiations for a new collective-bargaining agreement, there may be a lot less work for NFL player agents in the future.
“No individual negotiation of contracts at all” would be allowed under what has been called the NFL Rookie Wage Scale proposal, according to an NFL Players Association internal memo obtained by SportsBusiness Journal. “This is a Veteran Scale, not a Rookie Scale,” NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith wrote in the Jan. 26 letter, noting that the NFL was proposing that fourth- and fifth-year players who were drafted into the league would be covered by fixed contracts. That would mean 60 percent of the union’s overall membership would be affected by the NFL proposal.
Under the NFLPA’s description of the wage scale the NFL has proposed, there would be little room for negotiation for players entering the league, who would be under five-year contracts if they are first-rounders or four-year contracts if they are picked in the other six rounds of the draft. Things that are normally negotiated by agents, such as signing bonuses, would be fixed, guarantees would be banned, and renegotiations of players’ contracts would be banned until a player had three years in the league, according to the letter.
The memo was obtained earlier this month, after planned Feb. 9-10 talks between the league and union broke off.
“The points made in the memo reflect a profound misunderstanding of the proposal,” Greg Aiello, NFL senior vice president of communications, said in an e-mail in response to SportsBusiness Journal’s request for comment. “Our proposal would pay more to rookies drafted in rounds 3-7 than they get today because the guys drafted in rounds 3-7 all make the minimum but don’t get meaningful bonuses or escalators.”
Asked whether it was true that there would be no individual negotiations for players on the wage scale, Aiello declined to comment.
Still, some NFL agents viewed the memo as an attack on agents.
“Obviously the reason the NFL wants to get rid of agents is they know agents are trying to get a fair market value for their clients, and it’s an attempt by the NFL to turn back the clock to the 1960s, when players were intimidated from getting agents by the teams and the league,” said one prominent agent. The agent asked for anonymity because the person was not authorized to speak on collective bargaining.
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Projected first-rounder Jimmy Smith has switched to agent Drew Rosenhaus.
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The proposal, which the NFLPA opposes, would also, in the opinion of this agent, cause clubs to pass up older players for young talent that they could pay at a much lower rate under the wage scale.
NBA agent David Falk noted that the rookie wage scale imposed on the NBA after that league’s 1998-99 lockout did affect the agent community.
“A wage scale in general homogenizes the ability of agents to differentiate themselves,” Falk said.
ALL BASES COVERED SIGNS PLAYERS: All Bases Covered Sports Management, a Scottsdale, Ariz.-based firm that specializes in representing MLB players, has signed a number of players for representation, including San Francisco Giants right fielder Nate Schierholtz. The firm is owned by agents Scott Leventhal and Damon Lapa. All Bases Covered also signed Kansas City Royals center fielder Lorenzo Cain, and Leventhal and Lapa this offseason negotiated the two-year, $8 million deal pitcher Kevin Correia signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
NFL PROSPECT SWITCHES TO ROSENHAUS: Colorado cornerback Jimmy Smith, who is a projected first-round NFL draft pick, has signed with agent Drew Rosenhaus of Rosenhaus Sports. Smith was formerly represented by Peter Schaffer of All Pro Sports & Entertainment.
Liz Mullen can be reached at lmullen@sportsbusinessjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter @SBJLizMullen.
