While I normally use this space to discuss the issues related to player representation and evaluation, occasionally, I like to turn it over to friends well-qualified to discuss various issues. Today, former Titans team executive Blake Beddingfield analyzes this week’s big deal between New Orleans and Philadelphia.

The trade between the Philadelphia Eagles and New Orleans Saints three weeks before the draft says a lot about each team. I love these trades because they show two teams and front offices that are confident in their respective team-building approaches and how they individually view this draft and how they can upgrade their teams.

First, the trade: the Saints received the Nos. 16 and 19 picks in the first round and the No. 194 pick in the 6th round of the 2022 draft. The Eagles received the No. 18 pick in the first round, along with the 101st pick in the 3rd round and 237th pick in the 7th round. Also, they were able to acquire New Orleans’ first-round pick in 2023 and their second-rounder in 2024. Let’s look at how the trade benefits each team.

SAINTS

The Saints part of the trade allows them to take two different avenues with those first two selections. First, the Saints now have the ammunition to trade up into the top 10 of the first round and take the young quarterback that can be a long-term replacement for future hall of famer Drew Brees. The Saints struggled down the stretch in 2021 after a serviceable Jameis Winston was lost for the season due to injury.   

Based on the offseason trades of Russell Wilson, Matt Ryan, Carson Wentz and Deshaun Watson, along with a big new contract for Aaron Rodgers, NFL teams have realized they can’t win the Super Bowl without a top quarterback. To wit: Tom Brady, Patrick Mahomes and Matthew Stafford have won the last three Super Bowls. 

Most personnel people (including myself) do not see a quarterback in the 2022 draft worth the draft capital it would take to trade into the top 10. That is why I question the Saints acquiring the extra picks to move up to select a QB. Could they sit at pick 16 and get their future signal-caller while also having an extra selection to upgrade their roster? It’s possible. 

The second road the Saints can take is to use those first-rounders to acquire youth and upgrade a roster that has gotten older while replacing some long-term starters that left in free agency. Cameron Jordan, a Pro Bowl regular at defensive end, will be 33 this season. Wide receiver Michael Thomas is 29 and has back-to-back, injury-riddled seasons. Also, linebacker Demario Davis, another standout defensive player, is 33. With two first-rounders, the team could replace the left tackle they lost in free agency, Terron Armstead, and add a wide receiver or pass rusher. The 2022 draft has enough left tackles, wide receivers and pass rushers to give the team the confidence they could shore up two of those three positions with the 16^th and 19^th selections. This would allow Winston to continue to quarterback the team, add youth and also position the team for a future run in a division that doesn’t have a clear long-term leader presuming Brady doesn’t play for another decade.   

I feel the Saints are looking for sustainability, and replacing Armstead and adding another playmaker is the way to go. My guess is that the Saints are not looking to package the picks to take a rookie quarterback who may or may not be a franchise player.

Now the Eagles.

EAGLES

The Eagles side of the trade is obvious. The Eagles continue to acquire future draft choices to sustain roster-building and youth, because of the current draft capital they have. Trades with the Colts (they acquired a 2022 first-rounder for Carson Wentz) and the Dolphins (also giving them a 2022 first-rounder), they still have plenty of ammo in the ’22 draft with two first-rounders, one second, two third-rounders and a total of 10 selections. 

Eagles GM Howie Roseman has done a very good job of acquiring these current and future selections. Philly can upgrade its pass rush and offensive line and add another playmaker on offense with its first three selections.

Very rarely is a trade on paper good for both teams, but in this case I believe both teams benefit from the early draft-day trade.

At Inside the League, we focus on the representation and scouting side of the game. That’s why see the moves of Mike McCartney, Jaymeson Moten and Kyle Dolan (and their draft clients) from Chicago-based Priority Sports to New York City-based VaynerSports as pretty big.

We more than just broke the story; we devoted quite a bit of space to it at our main site. For garden variety NFL fans, it’s a blip on the screen, but for people who follow the business of the game, like yourself, it’s something much more. Here are a few questions, and our answers, in the wake of Vayner’s expansion.

Is this unusual?: Regarding the timing and the stature of the players, yes. Last year, Houston-based Nicole Lynn left Young Money APAA Sports for Klutch Sports Group the week of the draft, but she took only two players, and they were both Day 3 draftees (Alabama OG Deonte Brown went 6/193 to the Panthers, while North Carolina WO Dazz Newsome went 6/221 to the Bears). That’s the only transfer of agents and players between March 1 and draft day in at least the last 10 years.

What prompted this?: There are a lot of factors, but one of them has to be the social media expertise and bandwidth provided by the three agents’ new home. Though rival firms like Rosenhaus Sports, CAA and Steinberg Sports, among others, got into the name, image and likeness race immediately last July, Priority Sports wasn’t nearly as aggressive. The NIL era promises to change the face of player representation, and indeed, already has. Both of VaynerSports’ clients heading into the ’22 draft, Cincinnati QB Desmond Ridder and Purdue WO David Bell, were their NIL clients starting last summer/fall.

What does this move say about the business of player representation?: That you’re either a big fish or your’s fish food, put very simply. Where once there was a solid cache of middle class agencies who could sign and manage a handful of mid-rounders each year, those firms are largely gone. The demands of the NIL era demand a larger commitment. In the past, an agency’s relationship with a player didn’t really begin until shortly before his draft year. Today, agencies are signing players barely out of high school, then expected to produce for 3-4 years. That’s a big ask for a smallish firm with meager resources.

What’s next for Priority Sports?: The cupboard isn’t entirely bare. Los Angeles-based Kenny Zuckerman, who has two projected mid-round picks in this draft (Virginia Tech OT Luke Tenuta and UCLA DT Otito Ogbonnia), has been an NFL contract advisor for three decades, and he remains with the firm. Zuckerman was tied for 56th in total clients in our latest count. What’s more, Priority’s Rick Smith represents 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan and Lions head coach Dan Campbell as well as, on the college side, Tennessee’s Josh Heupel and UTSA’s Jeff Traylor, two of the hotter young coaches on the FBS level. Time will tell if Priority chooses to restock its lineup with new agents on the NFL side.

If the business of the game interests you, and you don’t already get our newsletter, the Friday Wrap, now’s a good time to start. Register for it here.

Today, for the first time ever, we took our deepest dive ever into the individual results of everyone who ran the 40 and did drills at last week’s NFL Combine. We broke out all 324 participants by school and position, agency and training destination, as we’ve done for weeks now, but also much more. 

We also broke out (all behind the pay wall, sorry):

• Combine participants by 40 time
• Combine participants by Relative Athletic Score
• Combine training facilities by their clients

Obviously, what it all told us was that this was a really, really fast combine. One trainer, Brent Callaway of EXOS’ Frisco training facility, said he had six sub-4.4 times in his first 15 years in the business, then had six more (Sam Houston State’s Zyon McCollum, South Dakota State’s Pierre Strong, Iowa State’s Breece Hall, Memphis’ Calvin Austin III, SMU’s Danny Gray and Nebraska’s Cam Taylor-Britt) this year alone. How could this be?

Sure, speed training is getting better at colleges these days; several trainers I spoke to pointed that out. Athletes are better, too. There’s no mistaking that nutrition, time on task (many athletes start training to run the 40 early in high school) and pure raw ability are all better than ever before. If all that were true, we’d see a gradual increase, but not a sudden explosion of sub-4.3 times and nine tackles running a sub-5.0 40. 

There were a lot of good observations made by the trainers we spoke to this week, and we pass along their thoughts today in our Friday Wrap, that comes out this evening (you can register for it here). However, there was one theme I heard from trainers that had nothing to do with track backgrounds, new surfaces, skipping the bench press or other factors. Instead, it had to do with the value the league places on the entertainment that comes from today’s combine. The NFL was planning on a lot of would-be draft gurus glued to their televisions, and they sought to give them a show.

“It’s made for TV now,” said one elite speed specialist. “(The league needs) you to run. If you don’t run, they will have to start paying (the players) to run, which they don’t want to do. If they start putting up bad times, it shuts down their TV show.

“(Agents, trainers and combine invitees) were about to shut down their TV show because of the Covid rule, so (the league) changed that in 12 hours. If they run slow on that official time, kids will stop running. It will ruin their show.”

It’s a valid point. The NFL — much to the chagrin of everyone I know, from agent to scout to trainer — moved all the workouts to primetime. That was done for one reason: ratings. There are a lot of good reasons that times were better this year, which we’ll discuss in today’s Wrap, but it’s impossible to discount the league’s desire to juice its show with splashy times as one factor.

This year’s speed times are something many have celebrated but few have questioned, at least as far as I’ve seen. There’s more to come tonight. I hope you check out the Wrap.

Many people aspire to represent NFL players and live the fast-paced life of an NFL contract advisor. I can tell you that the jobs of NFL agents are not easy, and these days, their jobs are harder than ever.

Last night, we hosted a Zoom with about 30 NFL contract advisors, most of them certified last summer. Hosting the Zoom, along with myself, was Rodrik David of Agent Live 360. Rodrik was an NFL scout with the Falcons until last fall.

After an hour-long session that turned out to be pretty far-reaching, here are the issues on agents’ minds with the USFL draft next week, the combine the week after, and pro days kicking off immediately following the events in Indianapolis.

USFL: Most people last night remained frustrated for a number of reasons with the new league. Frustrations are related to the following:

• Lack of consistent communication and answers to questions on the league.
• Lack of transparency on who’s in the player pool and how to get a yes/no on players under consideration.
• Questions on how to get acknowledgment that a player has been correctly submitted for consideration in the player pool.
• Lack of clear direction on whether or not players can attend their pro day, an NFL training camp, or an XFL tryout over the next two years if he signs a USFL contract.

Pro Days: Given that so many players took their Covid “bonus” year last year, it’s a crowded draft class this year. That’s one reason why so many FBS schools have gone from requiring two referrals from NFL scouts to gain entry to a pro day to three scouts. I was even told today that one Big Ten school is requiring 10 scout referrals. Obviously, that’s tantamount to saying their pro day is closed.

Combine: The last combine in Indianapolis is setting up as a downer. Though Covid protocols are being loosened across the nation, the NFL is still acting like it’s the latter months of 2020. Players will be restricted in their movements, and while some trainers will still have full access to them, others won’t. Combine that with the NFLPA’s decision to make this year’s agent seminar virtual and the NFL’s decision to have players work out at night, during primetime, and it could be a much quieter and less busy downtown Indianapolis this year. That would be a disappointing end to two-plus decades in Indiana.

We’ll have a lot more answers by the time March rolls around. Make sure you’re following us at the Friday Wrap so you can keep up. Register for it here.

Starting Saturday, 21 aspiring NFL scouts will join us in Fort Worth for the 2022 College Gridiron Showcase. Here’s a rundown of what they can expect.

SATURDAY: This is our ‘orientation’ day, and the day we hope to set the tone for the weekend and make clear our expectations for the next three days. We’ll primarily get ready for what’s ahead.

CGSU scout workshop orientation (4-5 p.m., Magnolia V room of the Fort Worth Sheraton): CGS co-Founder Jose Jefferson, CGS Director of Scouting and Personnel Mike Rittelman and myself will introduce the week and talk about expectations.

SUNDAY: It’s showtime. Sunday is the biggest day for interns given that it’s the main interview day for NFL scouts, and many of our previous interns have earned the respect of NFL personnel with their work on Sunday alone.

• CGSU breakfast (6:30-7:30 a.m. at a restaurant TBA), followed by a scouting meeting (7:30-8 a.m., Magnolia VI of the Sheraton): We will discuss the Marshals workout and roles for interns.
• Marshals scrimmage (9-10:30 a.m.) at Farrington Field: We’ll ferry interns to the field, where they’ll assist with practices and solicit opinions from scouts on which players deserve to move up to the Desperadoes roster.
• CGSU scouting seminar (11 a.m.-noon, Oak I-III): CFL scout John Bonaventura, former NFL scout and agent Marc Lillibridge and former Giants scout Chris Watts will  participate in a panel discussion with the interns moderated by myself.
• CGSU lunch (noon-1 p.m., Magnolia I-IV) and scouting workshop meeting (noon to 12:30 p.m., Oak I-III): Mike Rittelman will join us to make assignments and break down scout-player interviews and how interns will assist in bringing players to the interview room. We’ll also take volunteers to help with the NFL measurements sessions.
• Player interviews (1-9 p.m., Magnolia I-IV): Interns will work with NFL teams to facilitate interviews.
• NFL measurements (offense and defense, 9-10:30 p.m., offense in Magnolia V, defense in Magnolia VI): Once again, interns will assist in arm and hand measurements.
• CGSU scouting debrief (10:30-11 p.m., Oak I-III): We’ll review Sunday and assign roles for Monday’s weigh-ins).

MONDAY: This is another big day and it starts early with weigh-ins, another key part of the weekend, then wraps up with another night of education.

• CGSU breakfast and meeting (6:15-7 a.m., Oak I-III of the Sheraton), followed by Desperadoes (7:30-9 a.m., Magnolia I-IV of the Sheraton) and Wrangers (9:15-10:45 a.m., Magnolia I-IV) weigh-ins: After a brief meeting, interns will help as we hand out roster sheets to scouts, align players alphabetically, contact and locate players who are late arriving, and call out heights and weights.
• Desperadoes (12:15-2 p.m.) and Wranglers (2:15-4 p.m.) practices at Farrington Field: We’ll ferry interns to the field, where they’ll assist with practices.
• CGSU scouting meeting (9:30-10 p.m., Magnolia V of the Sheraton): We’ll have one or two active NFL scouts who’ll discuss how they got their jobs, what they look for in interns and potential interviewees, and what they like best about being NFL evaluators.

TUESDAY: We say goodbye to our team and convene one last time.

• CGSU breakfast, followed by scouting meeting (6-7:30 a.m. breakfast at a nearby restaurant, followed by meeting 7-9 a.m. at Oak I-III): We’ll tally up the winners of the week, present awards, discuss what we did right and what we did wrong, and say goodbye to everyone.

If you’re one of our 21 interns, I look forward to meeting and working with you this weekend. If not, please consider applying to join us in 2023.

We’ll talk more about the CGS and our scouting intern program in our Friday Wrap. Register for it here.

This time of year, I get a handful of members of the current NFL Draft Class who are referred to me, and they have questions about the entire process. It’s for this reason that I wrote my first book, but most want bullet points.

Well, today, I have six. If you or your son have questions about the process, maybe the following will help.

• Regarding NFL Combine selection, the short story is, NFS (National Football Scouting) conducts a player-by-player vote of about 1,000-2,000 players, and the top 350-odd players by vote get an invite. They are disproportionately from FBS, obviously. If a player has a record-setting bowl game, it might tilt things in his way a bit. However, for the most part, the odds of getting an invite are equal parts raw athleticism, college production, and measurables. For example, if you are a four-year 1,000-yard receiver at an FBS school, but you’re 5-8/180/4.6, the odds will be against you. To a great degree, the NFL Draft is a beauty pageant. For the most part, NFL teams are looking for difference-makers, not good football players. They are seeking freakish athletic talents they can craft into stars (perhaps). This is why so many good college football players without eye-popping athletic skills go undrafted.
• As far as all-star play, the organizers of these bowls select the players, though agents can have a major impact on who gets invited. After the Senior Bowl and, to some degree, the Shrine Bowl, the remaining games are excellent platforms which will be populated largely by fringe draft prospects who will be late-rounders or UDFAs (or who won’t go to camps). As far as how these games are populated, there is a “domino” process among the games whereby a player at the top game (SR) declines an invitation, and that player is replaced by a lower game, and that continues on down the line. In my opinion, there is a limited difference between the first player drafted in the fourth round and most UDFAs, and a good all-star game can move a player up in that Day 3 crop. At the same time, an all-star game won’t get a player from the seventh to the first round. No way, no how.
• When it comes to selecting an agent, the most important factor should be (a) a player’s personal relationship with the agent and (b) the agent’s experience level. During the vetting process, players should ask in-depth questions about how the agent has handled players, when he was fired and why, how he can make a difference for the player, what the agent’s plan is for the next four months, etc. The player should ask if he’s ever represented anyone like himself and how that player turned out. The player should ask the agent why he wants to represent him. Money should be a low-level consideration, though if a player asks his agent to cover training, etc., he should pay three percent. Fee cuts are for first-rounders. Also, Day 3 prospects (especially) should forget about marketing. They need someone who will clear away all obstacles for them to make a 53-man roster.
• When choosing a trainer, players should make sure they choose a place that cares about them and that will comprehensively train them for speed, but also drills.
• The post-pro day period will be the longest time of a draft prospect’s life. Players should discuss the post-draft plan with their agents as part of your selection process.
• I know draft prospects are desperate to hear what scouts think about them, and I know it’s hard to resist the pull of the Internet, but a player only knows how all 32 teams feel about him if he goes undrafted. If a player is drafted, he really only knows how the team that drafted him thinks. Unless you continually see your name in first-round mock drafts, it’s best to presume that you are somewhere in that Day 3 mix, and every day you train, you’re trying to move up that list just a little bit. 

Still have questions? Sign up for our Friday Wrap newsletter, in which we talk about all things NFL draft and the business of the game each week. Merry Christmas!

Wednesday night, Trevor Swenson of Dynamic Talent joined about 30 NFL agents on Zoom to talk about his area of expertise: name, image and likeness (NIL). Trevor’s company represents more than 400 bands, entertainers and influencers, and he’s seen the rise of social media and figured out how to exploit it for his clients’ benefit.

Here are just a few tips I picked up from listening to him Wednesday.

• Even though football is our sole focus at Inside the League, it doesn’t mean it has to be an NIL agent’s sole focus. In fact, Trevor said track athletes “always sell,” partially because track is more individual in nature and therefore athletes are easier to identify with for potential customers.
• Social media is very visual, so you’re going to have to identify clients that are pleasing to the camera. “Turn them into models,” Trevor recommends.
• Facebook is one of the greatest commerce engines our nation has ever known, but it’s almost completely irrelevant to today’s athlete. Instead, get used to Google Ads as well as every vagary of each of the different platforms (especially Instagram).
• If you’re going to get active representing players on NIL matters, get familiar with Shopify. Trevor calls Shopify “a huge tool” when it comes to marketing merchandise for his clients. 
• If your client has a YouTube account, and hopes to make a few bucks with goofy videos or instructions on how to throw the ‘out’ route, he’s going to have to log 10,000 hours and gather 1,000 subscribers before his channel is monetized. 
  
• Before a company is willing to spend money on your client, the industry standard is an expected return of three dollars returned on investment (ROI) for every dollar pledged in sponsorship.
• If your client is a little low on followers, he can probably gain about 1,000 new ones per month if he’s aggressive about engaging with his followers and providing fresh content.
• Before he can expect to have any sponsors, he’s going to need at least 10,000 followers on at least one social media platform.  
• Trevor does not believe in deleting controversial posts. One reason is that no publicity is bad publicity. Another reason is that he believes his clients should own their posts and not run from them. 
• He said the only reason he’d dump a client is not because of poor performance, but because of no performance. For example, if he represents a band that doesn’t tour for a year or more, he goes in another direction. Though they aren’t musicians, you should encourage your clients to have the same mindset. 

If you want even more, consider joining us at 8 p.m. ET next Wednesday, Nov. 17. For $100 plus tax, Trevor will present a case study on how to turn a garden variety college football into an NIL machine on a step-by-step basis. He’ll also provide the basic documents you’ll need to sign an agreement, to pitch a client to a vendor, and more. 

We’ll discuss it further in today’s Friday Wrap, which you can register for here. Ready to sign up now? Here’s the link. 

Today, we conducted our third review of the most recent mock drafts of seven top draft services at ITL, and later today, we’ll analyze the results in the Friday Wrap (you can register for it here). While it’s fun to see what mock drafters are thinking, it’s hard to compare it to what NFL scouts actually think and/or know.

We can’t know what the draft boards of all 32 NFL teams looked like leading up to the most recent drafts, but we can look at the reports our own Blake Beddingfield (former Director of College Scouting for the Titans) wrote on many of the players who got acclaim by the draftniks. We did that this week, and found several instances where Blake, who writes long-form scouting reports for agents ($100 plus tax) as part of the ITL Scouting Department, was right when the media was wrong. Here are a few of them.

Gregory Rousseau, DE, Miami (proj. 1) — 1/30, Bills, 2021 — Blake projected Rousseau as a future first-rounder in Fall 2019, and all seven draft services agreed immediately following the ’20 draft. However, by the week before the ’21 draft, none of them had him in the first round. Buffalo (and Blake) disagreed, however, and today, he’s a member of PFF’s Midseason All-Rookie Team. “Rousseau has the length and get-off to be a genuine pocket-collapser at the NFL level,” PFF’s Michael Renner writes.

Daniel Faalele, OT, Minnesota (proj. 2-3) — TBA — Though he was seen as an oversized tackle with potential as a sophomore in Fall 2019, no one was pitching Faalele as a lock for Day 2 and potential first-rounder. Blake, however, saw him as a second- or third-rounder, and today, three of the seven services we monitor have him in the first round next spring.

Chase Claypool, WO, Notre Dame (proj. 2-3) — 2/49, Steelers, 2020 — Claypool never showed up on any of the first-round mocks of any of the seven services we track in any of the six reviews leading to the ’20 draft, but Blake had him in the 33-100 range in the fall of 2019, long before he began his climb up boards. Today, he’s a rising star in Pittsburgh’s receiving corps.

Jevon Holland, FS, Oregon (proj. 2-3) — 2/36, Dolphins, 2021 — Blake saw Holland as a second- or third-rounder in Fall 2019, but draft services had him in the first round immediately following the 2020 draft (four services had him in the 20s for ’21) before he began slipping during Fall 2020. Sure enough, he went in the second round in ’21.

Trey Smith, OG, Tennessee (proj. 1-2) — 6/226, Chiefs, 2021 — In the fall of 2019, people didn’t know (or, at least, the media didn’t) about the medical issues that would drop Smith into the sixth round. Smith is playing much more like the Day 1/Day 2 projection that Blake predicted than the sixth-round pick Smith turned out to be.

Jacob Eason, QB, Washington (proj. 4-7) — 4/122, Colts, 2020 — As of October 2019, three draft services had Eason as a late first-rounder, but Blake never fell for the hype, pegging him as a Day 3 pick. Sure enough, by next spring, he was right.

Zach Baun, OB, Wisconsin (proj. 4-7) — 3/74, Saints, 2020 — These days, Baun is a special-teamer and backup in the Saints’ linebacker corps, though by February 2020, three draft services were calling him a late first-rounder. However, Blake had him as a Day 3 type in Fall 2019, predicting that he’d be pretty much what he is for New Orleans today.

Want to get Blake’s take on a member of the ’22 draft class (or any other draft class, for that matter)? We can turn around a report in 1-2 days for any player in college football, no matter the conference, no matter the level (yes, even NAIA). It’s just $100 plus tax, and you won’t be disappointed by Blake’s depth and draft projection. Don’t rely on Draft Twitter. Email us and let’s get started.

As you know, the people who took the 2021 NFL Agent Exam in August got their results this week. It was an emotional time, for a lot of reasons, as some people got the news that they’d been waiting years to hear, while others found out they’d have to wait another year (or in some cases, five) to realize their dreams.

I wanted to get a feel for how test-takers felt about not just the test, but the industry, so I asked hundreds of them to take part in a brief survey this week. No surprise that most of those who responded (about 70 percent) passed the exam. Here are the questions and answers that I found interesting.

Whether or not you passed or failed, did the results surprise you?: After spending the week hearing from would-be agents shocked that they failed, I was surprised that the majority (55%) answered, ‘no.’ A little more than a fifth (22 %) said, ‘yes.’ I think this had to do with so many people who did well taking the survey.

What was your take on the exam?: Again, the survey answers didn’t match up with  my one-on-one conversations this week. There really wasn’t much separating the top three responses: pretty straightforward/not especially difficult (38.6%); tough but fair (31.6%); and tough and confusing (28.1). I heard quite often this week that some of the topics on the exam weren’t in the pre-exam seminar, but the response, ‘the subjects tested weren’t what I expected’ got only 1.8% of the responses.  

the next two questions dealt with our exam prep materials, and I was happy with the feedback. On the question, how helpful were ITL’s study materials, about half (46.6%) called them a “true difference-maker” and the other half (48.3%) said they were “more helpful than not.” Only about five percent total said they either “neither helped or hurt” or “minimal or no help.” On the question, which one of our study materials was most helpful, most (51.7%) said our study guide, edging out our practice exams (46.6%). 

Where the responses were more in line with what I expected was in the two NIL questions.

Whether or not you passed, how do you feel about the name, image and likeness era?:  The majority (50.9%) said “it’s definitely going to be impactful in the area of football representation,” while “it will be impactful to some players and schools, but not across the board” garnered 43.9%. Next, we asked the question, how prepared are you to operate in the NIL field? About a third (36.2%) said “I feel very confident I can make money with NIL outside of traditional player representation,” while almost half (46.5%) said, “not sure, but I see NIL as a real opportunity and a potential advantage, and I would like to learn more.” I agree.

We’ll talk more about the exam and the reaction to it in the Friday Wrap. Make sure to register for it here.

As you may know, Ric Serritella hosts a daily show on the business of the game called The State of Football on Sports Illustrated’s Twitch channel. Well, except for July. He took this month off, which gave my friend Bo Marchionte and myself a chance to co-host this week.

We had an incredible lineup of guest this week and they each had incredible contributions. Here are some of the highlights from the first three days of this week’s shows.

MONDAY

NEC Assistant Commissioner Ralph Ventre on the lack of national leadership on NIL: “I’m not a huge fan, on a personal level, of a huge central government, but in this case I actually think the federal government could do us all a favor if they passed some kind of national legislation for NIL.” 

Evan Brennan of UA Sports on parents’ expectations regarding NIL and how lucrative it could be. “It probably coalesces with how many agents are talking to them. The more agents that are blowing them up and making giant promises, the more ridiculous they get, but if they haven’t been (popular with agents), they’re actually quite reasonable.”

Nick Underhill of New Orleans Football on an offseason change one of the Saints’ QBs made: “For Taysom’s part, he thinks (his tendency to hold the football too long) was something mechanical with his feet. He didn’t have his feet pointed the right way, and then it would take an extra hitch to get set up to throw the ball, once he saw it, so that’s what he’s been working on this offseason.” 

TUESDAY

Vanguard Sports Group’s Eugene Lee on the firm’s cautious approach to NIL generally and to their first NIL client, Texas A&M’s Jalen Wydermyer, specifically: “We’re being very cognizant not to give away long-term leverage on deals. We’re being very careful not to dilute a player’s brand. We don’t want players to be billboards.” 

Former NFL offensive lineman and prospective NFL agent Jeremiah Sirles on why people who played his position are different (in a good way): “As a former offensive lineman, we’re all kinda similar. I’ve said it for a long time: you can pick up an offensive lineman from pretty much any team and plug them into an o-line room and they’re probably going to, eventually, like, within the first five days, fit in.” 

Former NFL executive Blake Beddingfield on NFL vaccination protocols: “I know of people who can’t take vaccines because it harms them physically. The NFL needs to be able to hear that and take each individual situation on its own merit. . . You’re separating the players and the league even more than it has to be.”

WEDNESDAY

Octagon Football’s Murphy McGuire on taking the NFLPA exam in 2015, when it got tremendously harder: “When I went in there, I was like, ‘this is a little more difficult than they said it was gonna be.’ Little did we know that they changed the format for that year and our pass rate was like . . . wasn’t that the lowest pass rate it’s ever been, because nobody knew it was coming? It was like 40 percent or something. It was crazy.”

Former NFL executive Randy Mueller on how he headed off Michael Thomas situations during his days as a GM: “It’s a vital part of being a GM and running a franchise . . .  One of my first meetings is always, when one season ends, I want to sit down with the medical people, first and foremost, and assess our whole roster and come up with pros and cons and come up with a plan for each guy because injuries are a giant factor with every player on your team, and they’re a giant factor with team-building, itself.”

Catapult Leadership’s Jason Montanez on the biggest mistake people make when interviewing for NFL, college, or any other job: “I think the most common mistake that people make is they don’t prepare enough. They don’t really get to know the job that they’re going for. I think you need to put in a substantial amount of research to get to know the job, to get to know who you’re interviewing with, who the hiring manager is, and really get a sense of what the job entails that you’re interviewing for.”

To check out the best of Thursday’s and Friday’s shows, check out the Friday Wrap, which comes out at 7:30 p.m. ET. Register for it here.