Category Archives: Agents

Some Reality for the 2025 NFL Agent Class

04 Friday Jul 2025

Posted by in Agent Exam, Agents, Getting started

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At Inside the League, we spend a lot of time getting prospective contract advisors ready for the NFLPA exam, which is 17 days away. It’s a test that must be taken seriously, but it’s far from the only one that agents face.

We recently got finished breaking down the 2025 draft class (sorry, pay link) with respect to which players got drafted, which ones got signed in undrafted free agency and which ones got to camp as tryout players only, cross-referencing it all with the agents who signed these players. The information we got back was sobering but, I think, relevant, because player representation remains such a popular route into the football business.

First, let’s start with the presumption that it costs at least $10,000 to get a player through the pre-draft process. You might get lucky and spend less, but we’re talking reality here. As an agent, you have three years to get a player onto a 90-man roster or you have to start over — pay $2500, pass the exam, etc. This is why our one goal at Inside the League, when it comes to new agents, “is resetting their clocks.”

With all that in mind, there were 139 agents who got certified in the 2024 agent class. Here’s what we found.

  • Only 13 had clients drafted (less than 10 percent). Keep in mind that most of the new agents who had draftees work for major firms. Only a portion of that 10 percent were truly independent — guys who took the exam, then dove in head first without any help and figured it all out.
  • Just 34 of the 139 (about a third) got a player onto an undrafted free agent deal, the absolutely lowest possible level of achievement that allows the new agent to reset his clock. That’s two-thirds of the agent class who now have just two years to attain getting a player signed or drafted.
  • There were 21 first-year agents who sent players to rookie mini-camp tryouts but who had no undrafted free agents (in other words, their clients went to rookie mini-camp with no contract and left without one three days later). Simply sending a player to rookie mini-camp on a tryout does not reset your three-year clock — it feels like an achievement for an agent, but it doesn’t really help. That means despite recruiting, signing and training numerous players for the draft, these agents have nothing to show for it. Of the 21, six signed multiple clients who only got tryouts. One agent signed four! Presumably, they trained all those players, which isn’t cheap (as we mentioned before). That’s a big hole in their respective budgets going into the 2026 class.
  • A total of 49 members of the 2024 agent class didn’t even sign a client for the 2025 draft. That’s about a third of the class that went to the trouble of passing the exam, then took the year off. They have to learn all the hard lessons of player representation in two years, not three, to beat the clock.
  • Thirty-two members of the 2024 class signed one or more players, but didn’t get a single one as much as a tryout. One had eight, none of whom got to an NFL camp. Another had seven and two more had six each. That’s a lot of work and effort ending in frustration.

The road to superstardom as an NFL agent is filled with huge potholes. We can help you avoid them, but it’s not easy. If you’re taking the test on July 21, please consider working with us. We’ve offered exam prep longer than anyone else and we’re also cheaper. Want more details about how we can get you ready? Register for today’s Friday Wrap, which comes out this evening, here.

2025 NFL Agent Exam: Your One-Month-Out Game Plan

20 Friday Jun 2025

Posted by in Agent Exam, Agents, Getting started

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It seems hard to believe, but on Saturday, we will be exactly a month away from the 2025 NFL Agent Exam, scheduled for Monday, July 21. I think the one-month mark represents the very last chance anyone has to start studying and still have a chance to pass, and even then, there are no guarantees.

If you’re someone who has only been casually studying for the past few weeks and who’s ready to get serious, here’s what I would recommend, based on what we offer for exam prep.

  • Buy our study guide. That’s gotta be Job 1. “The study guide has been really helpful,” said one satisfied customer this month. “I feel pretty good so far,” said another. “Have been using the study guide daily.” It’s $350 plus tax ($378.88 all in) and we can have it in your inbox within an hour of purchase. It’s the Cliff Notes for the CBA. Spend two weeks and learn everything in the guide inside-out. Take time off from work if you have to. Simply sifting through it over a weekend isn’t going to be enough.
  • Try one of our instructional videos. We’ve been having monthly Zoom sessions with our house CBA expert, Chicago-based agent Ian Greengross, since February. They are $50 plus tax each, and they’re especially valuable if you’re more of a visual learner. We’ve got five of them recorded and “in the can,” with another one set for July 8. I recommend you start with our February video. You can buy it here. If you like Ian’s teaching style and find it helpful to see problems worked out step-by-step, you can purchase the others.
  • Buy Practice Exam 1. It’s a 50-question, multiple-choice exam that will help you familiarize yourself with the style of questions, and that’s important. Register for it here. Take it several times (it won’t cost you extra). I’d plan on taking it the weekend of July 5-6. You can shoot fireworks and spend the weekend on a boat some other year.
  • Set aside July 8 and 10. On the 8th (a Tuesday), we’ll have our final monthly Zoom session covering, mainly, drug policy (including forfeitable breach; you’re going to want to see someone work those problems once or twice, I assure you). Cost will be $50 plus tax. Then, on Thursday, we’ll have our “pressure test” session in which we’ll give you 20 fresh, new questions, and one hour after we publish them, Ian will join everyone on Zoom to work them. If you’ve gotten them all correct (they’ll be mostly math problems), you can feel really good about your chances of passing. Cost will be $70. We’ll start registering for both sessions next month.
  • Consider getting Practice Exam 2. You can register for it here (it’s on a separate database from Exam 1). It’s half the cost of Exam 1, which is why you have to buy them in sequence (1 before 2). Purchasing Exam 2 sometime in July just gives you one more time before the exam to figure out if you’re ready.
  • Rest up for the pre-exam Zoom sessions the third week of July. If you’ve been preparing and you feel ready for the exam, the NFLPA’s sessions will be really helpful. If you use them as a review, in other words. If those sessions ARE your exam prep . . . I don’t like your odds.
  • Join us for our final exam review on Saturday, July 19. We’ll cover the topics that the PA tested for on last year’s exam (there were some really off-the-wall questions). It will be a two-hour session and we’ll go through our mock test, question by question. We do this on Saturday so you have a full Sunday to go over things. Cost will be $70. Once again, we’ll start registering for it in mid-July.

This is the game plan I’d follow if I were you and hadn’t really started yet. Shoot, even if I had, I’d probably do it this way. I realize this involves spending some money, but would you rather have a few extra bucks in your pocket but risk failing? It’s going to cost money to succeed in this business, and the investment starts now.

I hope your next month goes well. Best of luck to you.

2025 NFL Agent Exam: You Gotta Read This Advice

05 Thursday Jun 2025

Posted by in Agent Exam, Agents, Getting started

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With the 2025 NFL Agent Exam less than two months away, we are officially in the red zone as it relates to the exam. At ITL, helping people pass the exam is a big part of what we do, so I recently reached out to several successful test-takers from last summer to get their recommendations on how to study.

They were all very good, but one stood out in particular. It was the email sent me by Norcross, Ga.-based Sean McIlhinney, who put not one, but two, players on 90-man rosters as a rookie agent despite being independent.

What follows is Sean’s response to my request for advice on how to pass, and I recommend that you heed all of it. OK, maybe not ALL of it, but most of it. Here goes:

“Attending the two-day overview that the NFLPA offers (the week before the exam) is a must! I would not have passed the test but for attending those two sessions.

“(As for study aids,) I only used the materials that the NFLPA provided to study. I focused on the item list that the NFLPA gave to study and actually prepared a typed, detailed outline of the item list. The outline was probably 20 pages. I waited until the last week to actually prepare the outline, and it was super helpful because (a) it helped reinforce everything I had learned from just reading the materials and (b) the outline referenced actual pages numbers in the materials given, so I was able to easily go to the NFL materials during the test if and when needed.   

“I truly did not start studying hard until the last month, when I studied every weekend for eight hours per day (Saturday and Sunday) just reading the materials. I would start off at a breakfast place reading, go to a pool and read for a few hours, and then end at another restaurant and read. Three different places each Saturday and Sunday for approximately 2.5 hrs at each venue to keep things exciting.  No real note-taking – I just read to understand and further familiarize myself with the materials. I definitely used my highlighter while I was reading, but no note-taking.  

“The one thing I wish I did was find some sample salary cap practice questions from a prior test to work through before the test. I understood the salary cap rules well going into the test, but I had never seen any practice questions, and thought it would have been very helpful to have done some practice salary cap questions instead of trying to figure it out on the fly during the test.

“I was told that you could not get up and use the bathroom during the test and was genuinely worried about that, so I sported an adult diaper just in case.  No joke. Fortunately, I never used the diaper and passed the test. 

“Good luck!”

For more advice (that might be quite as offbeat), check out this week’s Friday Wrap, which comes out at 7:30 p.m. on Friday’s (duh). You can register here.

December 2024 Portal Window: Reactions

27 Friday Dec 2024

Posted by in Agents, NIL, Transfer portal, Uncategorized

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Earlier this week, an old friend in player representation made an offhand comment about representing a player in the transfer portal. This is an agent who’s one of the top handful of contract negotiators in the game, but who’s become disillusioned by the cost of repping today’s players. It was refreshing to hear that he had entered NIL representation, because he’s been renewed. The story he told me sounded like a win for all involved — team, player and agent — and I don’t often get to hear such good news.

Curious if there were other positive stories out there, I reached out to several friends on both side of the portal (player representation and personnel/recruiting) to get their takes on the December window. Here’s what I was told.

DPP, G5 school: “There were a lot more players that entered (close to a few thousand in just the first day) and every one of them has an agent and is asking for a lot more money than in years past. It’s impossible to set a market and average price per player when average talented kids are getting offered more money than you think they’re worth. You also see certain schools like Oklahoma State going all in on NIL and portal when they weren’t before, I guess in an effort to save their jobs and bring back a winning culture.”

DPP, another G5 school: “For us, it wasn’t too crazy. We had minimal interaction and impact from agents or advisors and we didn’t get into the bidding war type of deal. We did offer reasonable but moderate amounts of NIL money to guys we anticipate having good opportunities to start for us, but our top guys on our roster are and will continue to get the bulk of, and the highest amounts of, the NIL budget. . . With that said, from what I’ve seen and heard from the portal market is pretty rough. We have always had a problem in college football of handler/street agent types taking advantage of players, and it’s only worse now with the combination of the transfer portal and NIL. There is a significant need in college football for some type of regulations in the ‘agent’ world. It will take time, but there’s a very real need for that. We’ve heard of multiple situations of ‘agents’ gathering the potential market value for players if they entered the portal so that they can then go to the player and tell them how much money they can get them if they go into the portal. As we all know, it’s a broken system that we’re living in just hoping it can end up being rebuilt into something that resembles fair competition with less (or ideally no) corruption.”

DPP, P4 school: “The overarching theme this cycle was a lot worse from the team standpoint than this time last year. Part of that is based on that there were fewer quality players that entered, and along with that, now that everyone has money, everyone costs a lot more. The players (are) getting way more, but from a team sense, there’s less quality. . . There are fewer good players in college football now because, when you look at the grand scheme of things, 2024 was the last year of Covid seniors. So this draft class had two-and-a-half senior classes in one. You had the high school class of 2021 that played four years without redshirting, the high school class of 2020 that played five years without redshirting, then the high school classes of 2018 and 2019 that had a redshirt plus Covid years. So, because of all that, there were so many seniors in college football with no eligibility and they’re all leaving (for the draft), so a lot of the other guys (remaining) haven’t played as much. There were fewer younger guys with meaningful stats. For the immediate time being . . . it’s gonna take some time to balance itself out (talent-wise) with younger players, but in the end, it will be relatively normal. We won’t see the kind of quality and depth that we saw in the 2023 class. With revenue sharing across college football, salaries have skyrocketed. We just won’t see the same depth that we’ve seen in the past.” 

NIL agent with established, NFLPA-certified firm: “Seeing more and more players with representation. Not surprising that this is the direction it’s headed. Agents are still clowns for the most part. Even legitimate NFL agents just don’t know what they’re doing. Still hearing a ton of complaints about that from teams. Player talent was about the same. I think G5/FCS kids think more concretely about the portal as a part of their college career plan. Most of them want to ‘level up.’ There was definitely another infusion of money with revenue share kicking in. The middle class P4s that couldn’t raise collective money competitively got a huge boost. If anything, NIL is creating more parity, at least for now.”

Top NIL agent, also with NFL certification: “From an agency perspective, I think it’s really important to highlight that there are some bigger NFL agencies that are taking NIL seriously and there are those that don’t. . . These (firms) are either hitting on the top guys, doing a ton of volume, or both. Seems like these were the names I heard from players on who had reached out. Last year, I was like one of the only shows in town. Now more medium-sized NFL agencies are getting involved in the portal. In high school, it’s more of the (top-five NFL firms) that are getting all of the top high school talent, mainly QB, skill, (pass rushers) and OT prospects. The point I want to make . . . is that if an NFL agency isn’t on the list, they are probably gonna get passed by in the next 3-5 (years). I know a lot of people are saying that players won’t stick that long, and to a degree they are correct, but I think if a player stays with his NIL guy for long enough, (the agency has) a better chance of landing them for the draft down the road.”

We’ll have more on the portal in today’s Friday Wrap. Register here.

A Busy Week Working with New Agents and More

15 Friday Nov 2024

Posted by in Agents, combine prep, Getting started, ITL

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The fourth quarter of the year is always an exciting time because we’re working closely with the newest NFL agent class. New contract advisors are fun to work with because they’re so excited about the industry and eager to learn. It’s almost impossible not to be inspired by their passion.

Here’s what this week looked like.

Monday: In addition to recording an incredible new edition of Scouting the League with guest Dane Brugler of The Athletic (you gotta check it out if you haven’t yet), I got on Zoom with a new agent who had a few questions and maybe needed a pep talk. There’s so much excitement that comes with passing the exam that, sometimes, new agents don’t know their next step. That’s natural and to be expected.

Tuesday: The NFLPA held its Midseason Virtual Contract Advisor Seminar and we broke it all down for our clients in our Rep Rumblings report (sorry, pay link). The biggest takeaways were that the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl won’t return anytime soon (partially, it seems due to misinformation union officials have received) and that the three-year rule is here to stay. Maybe it’s true that there are more agents than there need to be, but it’s also true that three years is a very short time to figure out an incredibly tough business (especially when you can’t start until October in Year 1).

Wednesday: Our weekly Zoom sessions are gaining momentum. We doubled our audience this week as we welcome Lee Smith of Triple F Sports Performance in Knoxville, Tenn., along with three established agents from NFL agencies (the Rosenbach Agency, Generation Sports Group and Turner Sports) who gave advice, provided tips, demonstrated some really impressive software or introduced new offerings designed to give first-year agents a leg up on signing legitimate prospects for 2025. The audience was made up of ITL subscribers, most of whom are rookie player reps.

Thursday: I headed to College Station to address about 50 communications students at Texas A&M as a guest of my friend, former co-worker and editor of my first two books, Paul McGrath. I spent an hour discussing sports editing, at Paul’s request, plus I gave a rundown of my roller coaster career in sports and, well, life. It was fun. If you want to check it out, it’s here. That was my morning. My afternoon was spent editing several scouting reports on 2025 prospects for agents and agencies, all of them written by former Titans scouting executive Blake Beddingfield. For agents who don’t yet have a network of scouts, I see this as an invaluable service, if I do say so myself. I also referred a member of the ’25 draft class to my friends Jose Jefferson and Mike Rittelman of the College Gridiron Showcase (plus I reached out to scouts to get a better sense of the player’s draft possibilities). Busy day.

I’ll spend today writing the Friday Wrap, which I hope you’ll check out. Register for it here if you haven’t already. 

If you’re a new agent, I hope you’ll consider joining us at Inside the League. We’re doing exciting things every week that will give you a better chance at success. I don’t think you got certified to win a participation trophy. We want to help you win, no matter what you do in the game. 

A Few Notes from a Busy Fall 2024

31 Thursday Oct 2024

Posted by in Agents, NFL draft, NIL, Scouts

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Today, I didn’t have any topics I wanted to spend 500 words on, but I had a lot of topics I wanted to spend 100 words on, so here’s a bunch of stuff I found interesting this week.

  • Has Pittsburgh cracked the code on how to intelligently integrate former NFL scouts and executives into the organization in a way that helps identify, grade and reward top performers? Maybe. Per this story, the Panthers have brought in former Bills GM Doug Whaley to help in doling out a $6 million NIL budget based on quality of play. Given the team’s success this season (7-0 entering this weekend’s game against SMU), maybe head coach Pat Narduzzi’s plan to pay players based on production rather than promise will be replicated elsewhere.
  • Mark your calendars: the final resolution of the NCAA’s $2.7 billion deal with the plaintiff attorneys seeking NIL compensation in a class action lawsuit (for players dating back to 2016) is set for April 2025. The agreement is expected to clear the way for a $20 million-per-school tranche of money to be shared with players who participated in NCAA athletics from 2016-21. It also clears the way for schools to begin operating in ways that closely mirror a pay-for-play model, rather than the current system (which pretends that players only get compensated for their respective names, images and likenesses). Bottom line, during a time when all eyes will be focused on the 2025 draft, we could see federal and NCAA oversight of NIL representation change in radical ways. The impact of those changes could be immediate. We will do what we can to prepare you, our client, for those changes well in advance. 
  • Based on feedback from new agents this fall, the stories haven’t changed much over the years. One agent was contacted by the alleged uncle of a star player, only the uncle wouldn’t tell the agent who the player was (he would only divulge the player’s school and home location, and offered that the player is a mid-round pick). The uncle said the player’s focus is newly certified contract advisors, for some reason. We’ve also heard of a runner in South Florida who’s tried to solicit members of the 2024 agent class and wants money up front, with a promise of players later. 
  • So far, the only head coaching changes this season have been made at the G5 level. Maybe that’s why no search firms have been engaged so far, at least as far as we know. Last year, 17 G5 schools made head coaching changes. Of the 17, less than half (eight) used assistance. Of the 14 P4 schools making changes, not surprisingly, 11 hired firms.   

One other thing. If you’re a new agent (or a veteran agent trying to figure out how to keep up with the exploding costs of player representation), you should check out today’s Rep Rumblings at ITL. We’re trying to finalize a program that you might find helpful. 

We’ll also discuss it in the Friday Wrap. You can register for it here. 

Is Being An NFL Agent An Addiction? Sure Looks Like It

04 Friday Oct 2024

Posted by in Agents, Getting started

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When someone tells me they want to pursue NFL agent certification, I usually try to talk them out of it. If they persist, I leave them with this: people normally only hang up their certification voluntarily for four reasons. They are:

  • Divorce
  • Bankruptcy
  • Litigation
  • All three.

They usually laugh (nervously) and go on about their plans. 

I’ll sometimes also remind them of one veteran agent’s “gallows humorish” quote shared with me a few years ago. Once again, they treat me like I’m joking. My point is, the feel of being an NFL agent is something that’s more than intoxicating. It’s addictive. This week, we saw another reminder of this with the return of Ron Del Duca and Jeff Guerriero.

Both Del Duca and Guerriero enjoyed success in their first respective runs at player representation. Del Duca was an agent for almost two decades before turning over his agent creds sometime in the last 5-10 years. Guerriero actually represented the No. 6 pick in the draft, LSU DE Barkevious Mingo, in 2013, before getting out in a similar time frame. As recently as 11 years ago, both Del Duca and Guerriero had clients on NFL rosters. However, with Del Duca originally certified in 1992 and Guerriero in 1997, both came of age as agents in a time prior to the signing of the 2011 CBA, when NFL owners basically took away negotiating skills as an agent’s most important trait. When draft picks’ contracts all became cookie cutter in 2011, the lavishing of benefits (in the form of splashy combine training, per diems, signing bonuses, and fee cuts) really went into overdrive. It makes sense. Everyone had to find a way to distinguish themselves from the others, and money’s always a popular way. That’s not to say that “skins on the wall” don’t matter anymore, but experience has begun to hold less and less sway. The “what do I get?” conversation is the one that every agent dreads, and it’s not going away. In fact, it’s only moving up in the time frame for most players in the NIL era. 

Will Del Duca and Guerriero reach their previous heights? Who knows? But this is the landscape they face.

  • The fight now — for every agency, big and small — is for Day 3 types. Generally speaking, all the Day 1 and Day 2 types are already signed to NIL agreements, which gives the NIL agent a generous head start on repping the player on his NFL contracts. That means agents now have to closely monitor and sign the sleepers in each draft class. This is why former Titans scouting executive Blake Beddingfield is now providing 5-7 under-the-radar-and-rising prospects weekly for ITL subscribers.
  • No one, and I mean NO ONE, doesn’t expect $10,000-$15,000 worth of combine training. There are no shortcuts there. At least not for players with any kind of real hope. 
  • There’s total uncertainty about how the federal government and/or the NCAA will rule in the next 10 years with regard to college athlete payments. If college players are made professionals (which everyone expects), it may be a net positive for player representation. However, it threatens to add layers of regulation, and usually that means costs increase even more. 

I wish the best of luck to Del Duca, Guerriero, and everyone else who recently got the good news that they are certified as contract advisors by the NFLPA. But there’s no denying they have a hard road ahead.

 

 

NFL Agent Basics Zooms 2024: A Few More Points

25 Wednesday Sep 2024

Posted by in Agents, combine prep, Getting started

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As I write this, we have just one more session left (tonight, 8 p.m. ET) in our NFL Agent Basics series of Zooms for members of the 2024 class. So far, though I was hoping each session would be about an hour long, we’ve provided five hours of content over three Zooms (two last week, one this week). 

Tuesday of last week, we focused on all things money and finances. Wednesday, it was recruiting and finding your first client. Last night was all about combine prep and deciding on the best way to train your client(s). Tonight, we’ll discuss scouting and how to build a network. 

Since our session last night on combine prep, there are a few things I wish I’d emphasized more. Rather than call everyone back for more (we went 100+ minutes last night), I thought it better to just put them in today’s blog.

Here goes:

  • Recognize that your training relationships will be some of the most important ones you build in the industry, so find reputable trainers and trust them (or at least give them the benefit of the doubt). If you feel you are getting a raw deal, try not to burn a bridge. The football world is a very small one and you don’t want a reputation for volatility. Not sure if your trainer is reputable? Let’s talk.
  • Look at your relationship with a trainer as collaborative more so than service provider/customer. This is why it’s very important to build a good rapport so there are no surprises at the NFL Combine or pro day. You want your client’s trainer to be comfortable sharing bad news.
  • Don’t put anything in a training rider that you aren’t willing to enforce.
  • Your client may not be comfortable in the first training facility he chooses, and might want to transfer. If this is the case, explain what restrictions, if any, you place on his next training choice, and how quickly he must come to this decision.
  • Understand that the player usually comes to see his trainer as his advocate, and often will choose the trainer over you. It’s not fair, but it’s true. 
  • Sometimes, players get hurt when training. Work out all the issues beforehand on insurance policies, who pays in the instance of injury, etc. I promise you won’t be sorry later if you do this.
  • There are times when players don’t take good care of where they stay. Find a way to diplomatically set expectations on how your client leaves his residence post-training, as well as how he maintains it during training. If he breaks something, or trashes the place, do you pick up the tab? 
  • If you choose to rent a car for your client (and we discussed several things we recommend as alternatives), make sure to opt into the insurance plan.
  • There is always a lot of shock when we discuss the cost and value of combine prep, and this is the area where every new agent thinks he’s gonna save money. OK, but understand that, generally speaking, you get what you pay for when it comes to combine prep. Don’t believe me? Check this out. 

Want more? All of our sessions so far have been recorded, as will tonight’s session. All four are available for $350, and it’s not too late to join us tonight as former Falcons and Titans scout Rodrik David joins me as we break down all you need to know about the NFL scouting industry at 8 p.m. ET. I hope you can join us. 

2024 NFL Agent Basics Zooms: Week 1 Highlights

19 Thursday Sep 2024

Posted by in Agents, Getting started

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This week, we began teaching about 30 newly certified NFL contract advisors the fundamentals of player representation. Our focus was on giving them everything they’ll need for their first year of working with players.

Our topics this week were money on Tuesday and recruiting on Wednesday. We were joined by Christ Turnage of UA Sports on Tuesday and Aston Wilson of Agency1 Athlete Management on Wednesday. Next week, we’ll focus on training and combine prep on Tuesday and building your scouting network on Wednesday.

Here are a few highlights from this week’s sessions.

  • Wednesday night, I knew we would be discussing how to make contact with prospects, so I reached out to several new and newish agents for ideas on what to say that evening. Obviously, social media is key, but just bombing them with DMs probably won’t work. “When you see something happens big for them, you have to leave a congratulatory note . . . birthday, baby shower, engagement (fiancé), family member events . . . You have to acknowledge those things to build rapport,” suggested one agent. “I also have used a (WhitePages.com) subscription before to pull numbers and email addresses,” said another contract advisor. The key is to use social media to let the player know you’re rooting for him. “The kid we’re (recruiting now) was a kid who followed us on Instagram,” offered one agent. “I never messaged him. He had a good game . . . and I messaged him, ‘big win.’ He responded right away and I knew we had something.” One more piece of advice: “Make sure you are strategic with your target. UDFA/potential Day 3 guy and you may get a response.”
  • I hoped that the cost of representing a player would have declined (or at least stayed the same) since I wrote this post in 2015. What I found, unfortunately, is that it has risen to the $12,000-$14,000 range. Of course, you can sign players without any investment, but you get what you pay for.
  • Having legitimate contract advisors with years of experience has been a tremendous part of the program. For example, Chris had great advice on how to save money on rental cars. Aston had great advice on how to get a player into an all-star game (and make sure the player understands who got him there). Their contributions are part of the reason that, though we promised hour-long sessions, we went 90 minutes on Tuesday and a full two hours on Wednesday.
  • You’ve got to be able to walk away. That’s one of the main takeaways from Tuesday.  “I had a defensive end that I was recruiting,” Chris said. “I think he was gonna be a high PFA at the time. He said, ‘hey, this first-year agent is offering me a $10,000 signing bonus. If you can match, I’m gonna go with you. I said, ‘I’m not gonna match that, based on where you’re projected. I’m not doing that. He went with the first-year agent and he didn’t get drafted and he got cut off the 90 and he never played again. So that (agent) dropped 10 grand on him to get him, but it wasn’t worth it.”
  • Chris on holding the line at billing the full three percent on every contract: “My background is in banking, and they always told us not to compete on price. . . if you train your (potential) client that you’re going to compete on price, guess what: they’re gonna leave you on price as well. So you have to provide value outside of price.”
  • The temptation, as a new agent, is to sign someone from FBS (or even Division II or III) as your first client, but Wednesday, Aston said he doesn’t recommend it. “If you’re signing a player who’s not at an FBS school, he’s gotta be the best player you’ve ever seen play football,” Aston said. “Don’t think, ‘oh, I’ve got this diamond in the rough at James Madison.’ Don’t do that, because the odds aren’t in your favor.”
  • By the way, the feedback from our sessions so far has been fantastic. “Mannn these sessions have been priceless,” said one participant. “A lot of the questions I had or was unsure about have been getting answered or put to bed.” Said another: “Neil, great session last night. Really informative.”  

If you’re reading this and you’d like to join us, even if you’re not certified yet (but especially if you are), we’d love to have you. Cost is $350 (no tax), and you’ll get each of the two videos from this week as well as a chance to join us for both sessions next week. For even more information on our New Agent Basics course (and ITL), sign up for our weekly newsletter. 

By the Numbers: Position Scarcity in the 2024 Draft Class (and others)

13 Friday Sep 2024

Posted by in Agents, Getting started, NFL draft

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This week, I finally got a chance to finish up the 2024 Draft By the Numbers grid. It always provides an interesting look at different draft classes. As a reminder, we take a look at every position (QB, RB, WR, TE, OC, OG, OT, PK, PT, CB, DE, DT, ILB, OLB, FS, SS and CB) based on eight categories, from signing with an agent to making a 53 or practice squad.

Here are a few thoughts:

  • It was a great year to sign a center. This year, a fourth of them were drafted and more than 60 percent made it to a 90-man roster. Last year, the same number of centers were signed by agents (44) but only a third of them (36 percent) made it to camp and eight were drafted. Last year was a lot closer to normal numbers. Generally speaking, if you’re an agent, stay away from centers.
  • On the other hand, signing a tackle is as close to a guaranteed player on a camp roster as you’ll find. This year, two-thirds of all tackles who signed with agents made it to a 90-man roster, while a third (!!!) were drafted. If you factor in tryout players, almost 90 percent made it at least as far as rookie mini-camp. That’s unbelievable. 
  • Incidentally, only twice in the last 10 years have half of offensive tackles signed by agents not made it to a 90-man roster. Think about that. Getting a player into camp is the biggest challenge an independent agent faces, yet he’s got a 50-50 chance on every client if he just signs tackles.
  • One more point to make about tackles: 32.5 percent of all the tackles signed for the 2024 draft class were drafted. Only three positions had half as many drafted, percentage-wise: cornerbacks (19.2 percent), defensive tackles (17.2 percent) and defensive ends (16.6 percent). 
  • Defensive ends and defensive tackles are a pretty good bet, as well. Generally speaking, both are drafted or signed as UDFAs at about a 40-45 percent rate. 
  • At the other end of the spectrum, among regular position players, both free safeties (9.6 percent) and outside linebackers (8.9 percent) got drafted at less than a 10 percent rate. Those were the lowest rates, not counting fullbacks. Last year, the lowest rate was at strong safety (10.3) and inside linebacker (8.8 percent). Generally speaking, linebackers and safeties are the least-drafted positions.  
  • Wide receivers (253) and cornerbacks (182) were the most popular positions with agents this year, and that’s not unusual. In the last 10 years, wide receiver has been the most popular client every year (the high-water mark was 313 in 2016). Likewise, cornerback has been second-most popular all 10 years.
  • Come draft time, wide receivers are normally drafted at a 10 percent rate and cornerbacks at a 15 percent rate. 

I know if you’re a scout, or even a seasoned agent, these numbers probably don’t matter. However, if you’re a new or newish agent, it pays to get a look at the analytics before you start recruiting. Make sure to review the numbers yourself over the last decade before you start deciding who you’re going to target for 2025.