On Tuesday, we posted an interview with former agent and ‘Skins cap guy J.I. ‘Jimmy’ Halsell regarding his work with new Broncos OT Russell Okung on his new contract. However, we had even more questions about the process of working with Okung and Jimmy’s thoughts on the reaction to the deal. We finish up our interview today.

How did you come to work with Okung on the contract? Did he approach you independently? Did the NFLPA play a role? Did you have a prior relationship with him?  “When I read last summer that he was going to do his second contract without an agent, but with the assistance of an expert, I knew that was right in my proverbial wheelhouse. I then put on my recruiter hat and leveraged my connections to get in touch with him prior to the 2015 season. That said, Russ and I never talked until the end of the season as he began to turn his attention to his impending second contract.  We quickly realized the mutual benefit and agreed to work together.”

What were the negatives you had going into free agency that you had to overcome?  “Russ’ January shoulder injury was the biggest obstacle going into free agency.  If Russ doesn’t incur that injury, then his free agent process is significantly different, even without the ability to talk to teams in advance of the start of free agency.”

Did Internet reaction to the contract surprise you?  “Not at all, since last summer when Russ announced his intentions, one could see the skepticism from agents and, in turn, from the media. That said, the overwhelming majority of players need an agent to advocate for them; Russ is unique given his personality, intelligence, and willingness to act on his vision.  The fact is that the media has misconstrued Russ’ contract at least in part (not in all instances) because there is a turf-protection agenda from some agents.  However, many athletes will not go Russ’ route not because of the misconstrued contract he signed but because they don’t have the same tools Russ possesses, and that’s OK, because that’s what agents are for.  So my overarching point is that, proverbially, everyone can eat.”

Do you plan on working with other players on their deals? Would you entertain such work if you were approached?  “In addition to Russ, I’ve worked on a couple of other deals this offseason as a consultant to the certified agent.  Regarding working directly with players, again, I don’t envision a lot of players having the confidence to pursue the path Russ did, but for those players who do have that confidence, then I’d absolutely be willing to be a consultant, just as I was to Russ.”

Make sure to follow Jimmy on Twitter here for his thoughts on the business of the game, with thoughts and analysis you won’t find anywhere else.

Many argue that the NFLPA has conducted a rather extensive campaign to make contract advisors superfluous over the past couple years. One of the main elements of this campaign has been the free agency of OT Russell Okung. Okung made it clear going into free agency that he would do it without an agent, and he fearlessly entered into this ‘experiment’ with tools provided by the players association.

Obviously, this was met with consternation by veteran agents as well as newer ones who saw this as a transparent attempt by the union to rid itself of contract advisors and the fees they charge. So when Okung’s turned out to be far less than the flashy, big-bucks deal that some forecasted, critics came out in force.

With this in mind, we reached out to J.I. Halsell, who assisted Okung during the free agency process. J.I. is no rookie at this. Not only is he a former agent with one of the most prestigious firms in the business (Priority Sports, which has offices in Chicago, Los Angeles and Atlanta), and not only is J.I. formerly the Redskins’ cap specialist, but he’s probably the only guy on the Internet who’s dedicated to making the cap easier to digest and understand for the rank-and-file fan. He deals with cap questions on his Twitter account, and also runs a new site called NFLContractMetrics.com, which you’ll be hearing more about in this space in the near future.

We asked J.I. several questions related to the deal Okung signed, and we’ll have those tomorrow, but today, we wanted to focus solely on the deal. With that in mind, we asked this: What are the strengths of the deal? What are the strongest benefits for Okung?

His response is below.

Russ’ road to free agency was complicated by the shoulder injury he suffered in the Seahawks’ playoff loss to the Panthers, and it was a significant obstacle in hammering out a deal. That said, while we would have preferred a long-term deal, we expected that we were going to have to do a one-year deal, and then hit the market again next year.  The Broncos’ offer of a one-year deal with a base value of $5M (with the opportunity to earn up to $8M total) was the best offer we had from a total value perspective.

A lot has been made of the fact that this one-year deal has no money guaranteed at signing.  Other one-year offers made to Russ had money guaranteed, but not the same opportunity from a total value standpoint, so as we evaluated the Broncos’ offer, Russ and I were comfortable with his ability to earn the $1M workout bonus in Denver’s deal and accordingly viewed it as a “practical” guarantee.  So we viewed it as a one-year deal worth $5M with a practical guarantee of $1M on a club where there was mutual, strong interest.

With us feeling comfortable with the terms of the one-year portion of the deal, when Denver expressed interest in the “2-in-1” contract structure (a structure that had also been proposed by other suitors with significantly less money), if Russ were to take on that structure, then it was going to have to make sense financially. The deal proposed would be for one year with a club option for a multi-year deal thereafter. Russ viewed the option to add a four-year deal from 2017-2020 as a top-tier offensive tackle contract.

Denver’s offer was worth $12M per year, and would pay $20.5M fully guaranteed at the time the option was exercised, as well as $35.5M of the value in the first three years. When I viewed deals on the market at all positions whose ‘paper years’  (meaning without consideration of ‘old years’ already under contract) were four years in length, less than four paid more than $30M in the first three years, and only one paid more than $20.5M guaranteed. So again, with that perspective, Russ felt comfortable with the four-year deal part of this 2-in-1 structure, because even with the cap increasing and with a good 2016 season, Russ would be hard pressed to find a four-year deal that would pay to the same levels as the four-year deal contained in the Denver deal.

Whether or not Denver exercises the option remains to be seen, and will largely be dependent on Russ’ 2016 “prove it” performance.  If they choose to not exercise the option, then Russ got the best one-year deal he could, and will hit the market in 2017 as he originally thought he would under his injury circumstances.  If Denver exercises the option, then Russ gets a four-year deal that, relative to other pure four-year deals, is exceptional.

More from J.I. tomorrow.