Rams cornerback Janoris Jenkins dropped to the second round of the draft because of character concerns and now his NFL career has reportedly gotten off to a shaky start.
Jason Cole of Yahoo! Sports reports that Jenkins and the team are at odds about who will financially advise Jenkins and that the issue stands in the way of Jenkins signing a contract. According to the report, Rams coach Jeff Fisher spoke to Jenkins’ agent Malik Shareef during the draft and made him promise to hire a financial advisor to help Jenkins manage his money. Such an agreement is against the rules of the CBA, something the Rams do not dispute, but Cole’s sources say that Fisher is still adamant that Jenkins work with Lou Taylor of Tri Star Sports & Entertainment Group.
Jenkins reportedly signed papers with the company, but Taylor said that Jenkins was not a client before hanging up the phone when reached for comment. Sources told Cole that Jenkins signed the papers to placate the team and that he is now unhappy with the terms of his agreement with her.
Jenkins has fathered four children with three different women and a fourth woman is now claiming he fathered her child as well. Taking care of those financial responsibilities is something that Jenkins has had to deal with already (via a bank loan) and it is going to be an ongoing part of his life.
While the Rams are right to want that taken care of in a way that doesn’t disrupt Jenkins’ football career, mandating which person is charged with helping him take care of his bills is out of bounds. Per the report, both sides want to take care of this without any legal action and the easiest way to do that would be for the Rams to drop the alleged demand about a particular advisor while taking other measures to contractually protect themselves from any future issues with Jenkins.