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About a month ago, you might have seen it reported that there would be 103 new contract advisors in the 2016 NFLPA agent class. Well, normally, that would be true. But this year, there will be 102.

You won’t find the name of one of the 103 people that passed on the NFLPA’s list of certified player representatives updated on Friday. That’s because this young man, who’s worked with agencies the last few years and has an intimate knowledge of the business, just didn’t see any point to it.

We exchanged a few emails last week, and here’s one he wrote. I asked for his permission to use it, because I thought it was really illustrative of the way many people in the business feel these days.

“Yeah I decided not to register. I’m worried about the future of the business due to the 1.5% default commission. It was extremely difficult to break-even on rookies with the 3% commission as is. Even though there were concerns about the maximum fee dropping to 2% when I registered, I’m not sure I would have even signed up for the test in January had I been aware of the 1.5% default fee. 

“Unfortunately, not everything worked out like I thought it would have, so I decided it wasn’t in my best interests to get certified. Football already had the lowest agent commission fee for any sport, and cutting it in half is insulting to the agents who have invested so much of their time and money into this business. Agents get a bad reputation, but most of them ones I have come across work their asses off for their clients every single day. I am happy that the certification fee is staying in my own pocket.
“Even though I’m not in the business, I hope for the best for the future of NFL agents.”

I don’t have a lot to add to this. I think I’ve made my feelings pretty obvious at this point. I just don’t think the Players Association fully understands the value of good counsel and advice, and the people who provide it, given the direction the union has gone with its new SRA.

I hope I’m wrong. In the meantime, we’ll wait to see how many agents chose not to pay their dues for the 2016-17 league year. Those results will be available in a few weeks.