Sources: NFLPA chooses not to reduce agent fees

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The NFL Players Association indeed considered the possibility of reducing agent fees from three percent to two percent of contract value. But all they did was consider it.

Per multiple sources, the NFLPA decided not to reduce agent fees from three percent to two percent. The discussion and the decision came at the union’s annual meeting, in Hawaii.

As one source explained it, the discussions focused instead on educating players on their right to negotiate a lower fee than three percent.

Two sources told PFT that a small contingent of players, including Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman and Giants running back Rashad Jennings, advocated for a reduction in fees. Whether this means it will come up again at future meetings, now that Sherman is a member of the NFLPA Executive Committee, remains to be seen. One source described the effort as being “tabled” for now.

The NFLPA declined comment on the situation, explaining that other resolutions are still pending before union leadership.

20 responses to “Sources: NFLPA chooses not to reduce agent fees

  1. The NFL loves to bully the little guy. You may not like agents but this is not cool or justified. Like TicketMaster charging a 3% “service fee” for every sale.

  2. I’m sure it was 100% necessary to have the meeting in Hawaii. Bet the journeyman special teams captains was psyched to foot his part of that bill.

  3. Seems to be a lot of holes in how this would work…

    – 3% of total contract value versus guaranteed value
    – Multi-year deal and player gets cut before end of contract
    – contract that is back end loaded with mega salaries the team never expects to pay
    – contract is re-negotiated. Player probably needs to pay 3% for original contract and 3% of re-negotiated contract

    Seems more probable than not that the player pays percentage of contract value they will never see. In re-negotiation the player likely pays the percentage twice on the same money for the balance of the deal that has not occurred yet.

    Forget talking heads like Deon that say “pay the man.” It is more like “pay the agent”…

  4. I don’t understand why the NFLPA makes these decisions. Agents should be allowed to charge any thing they want. The player gets to choose his agent and can go to another.

  5. Agents are paid as they go. Ie – player gets a check and agent gets 3% of it. The only monies they commission are the monies the players actually get paid.

    Agents get pooped on all the time but they are some of the hardest working individuals in sports.

    I work in the music business and agent’s percentages are 10%. Same with Actors, writers, comedians, authors and other entertainers.

    For a measly 3% agents provide a very valuable service to the athletes.

    * They accurately assess a player’s real value and get them the best deals available to the player.
    * They form and build trusting relationships with personnel staff on teams to get their less heralded and undrafted players opportunities to be in camp.
    * They provide financial assistance and front significant money to prospective draft pix. Who do you think pays for those combine training sessions that prospective draft picks attend to try to increase their draft stock? The agent, that’s who. Many agents aren’t even able to recoup those monies when their players don’t get drafted.

    The old adage applies here: A player who represents himself has a fool for an agent.

  6. They also help the player, in as much as he is receptive to the help, learn how to act like a professional, keep them out of trouble, and take care of a myriad of crap that we never hear about, because the agent and his team were able to sweep it under the rug.

  7. We hear the new Rookie wage scale makes the need for agents very small. I hope the rookies are negotiating smaller payments to agents on their first contracts. Later contracts are more complex and unique to the situation as is the negotiating. Those are deserving of greater compensation.

  8. Very simple, all the player has to do when seeking an agent is ask what % is your fee.

    If he says 3%, the reply should be, sorry I’m looking for an agent that charges 2%.

    The buyer controls the process.

  9. Okung and his deal was probably a set back to their cause. Contract negotiations are grueling, and when you look at the scope of legal fees in every industry, 3% is a steal.

  10. 3 percent of a 60 million dollar contract is nearly 2 million dollars. That’s ridiculous!

    There is now so much precedent to follow that a 2nd year law student can negotiate the average NFL contract. And a law clerk can negotiate a rookie contract.

    Many top hollywood talent stopped using agents decades ago. Instead they use managers who in turn hire lawyers by the hour to negotiate contracts. Works out to a fraction of 1 percent of the bigger contracts.

  11. Agents and players should be free to negotiate any deal they want. By mandating 3% it hurts the truly exceptional agent who may be worth 5+, as well as it helps the horrible agent who has no idea what he is doing. All agents are not created equally, and if great, well respected agents are worth more, then they should get it. Also, fwiw, agent pay scales should probably be more like real estate agent commissions. The commission rates generally drop as the price of the properties go up. This helps insure that both sellers and buyers in lower priced property transactions have qualified representation.

  12. The difference on Real Estate is if you offer as a listing agent a smaller % to the selling agent, the selling agents wont show the listing agents properties 8 times out of 10.

  13. It’s the odd argument that seems to have various people feeling sorry for both players and agents. Since so many comments seem to fall on both sides, it seems that 3% is probably about right then.

  14. They thought about it, then the agents told them what they could do with the idea.

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