Tips for Negotiating an NFL Contract May 17, 2006

By: Donald L. West, Jr., Esq.

As an NFLPA Certified Contract Advisor, a.k.a., an NFL Sports Agent, there is no skill more important than your negotiating skills. When you sit down with a current or potential client, the only reason you are there, is the client has a need for someone to NEGOTIATE on his behalf. In fact, the word “agent” is a legal term that is used to define this special role.

TIP #1 – Know your relationship and responsibilities to your Client! Before we get into how to improve your skills as an NFL negotiator, let’s examine the relationship that should exist between an Agent and his or her Principle, or more commonly called “the Client.” Black’s Law Dictionary defines an Agent as follows:

AGENT ( ā’ġent, n. ) a. A Person authorized by another to act for him, one instructed with another’s business.

b. One who represents and acts for another under the contract or relation of agency. c. A business representative, whose function is to bring about, modify, affect performance of, or terminate contractual obligations between principal and third persons. d. One who undertakes to transact some business, or to manage some affair, for another, by the authority and on account of the latter, and to render an account of it.

If we use the Black’s law definition of an Agent as our starting point, then it may prove to be helpful to also develop a concrete working definition of a sports agent…

SPORTS AGENT ( spōrts ā’ġent, n. ) - A person hired by a professional athlete for the express purpose of negotiating on behalf of the athlete for the athlete’s professional services and may also be expressly authorized and charged to act as a representative on the athlete’s behalf to further or simply conduct the athlete’s business and who owes to the athlete client a duty of loyalty, a duty of good faith, and a duty to accurately report back to the athlete client.

So, now it is a little clearer that one of the only reasons a sports agent exists is so he, or she, can negotiate on their client’s behalf let’s discuss improving those negotiation skills. Almost every time a sports agent takes a phone call or takes a meeting with someone, more times than not, a negotiation is going to take place.

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Copyright © 2006 Donald L. West, Jr., Esq.

Tips for Negotiating an NFL Contract

Tip #2 – A skillful Negotiator is a Great Listener! As a general rule, people love to hear themselves talk, but as a skillful negotiator you have to listen. In the NFL, if you are not listening, it will be impossible to get your client the best overall deal that is available. How is that, you ask? If you are acting as a Contract Advisor for a client we will call Rick, what are the things that are important to Rick about his upcoming negotiation? Does Rick have any family concerns that would make it better for him to play for a team in a certain geographical region? Will the type of playing surface for Rick’s new team have any effect on the number of years he can continue to play? Does Rick want all the money he can possibly get in the short run, or is it more important to be on a team that can compete to win a Super Bowl? Does Rick have the kind of leverage necessary to affect any of these choices? You would be surprised at how many agents walk into the team’s conference room and are not prepared to get what is best for their client because they were not acute listeners. Or more tragically, they were too busy talking about themselves, and sometimes, not even asking the critical questions, assuming they already know the answers. Now are you beginning to see why listening is so critical to the negotiator? When you enter the negotiation with a clear game-plan, you are able to sit at the negotiation table and listen to the other side. When you walk into that conference room to negotiate your big deal, you should already know what you want. It is not important to make sure that the other side instantly knows that too. What is important is that you learn their agenda and their needs. You have got to get inside their heads, and this requires listening. Remember, you’ve got to be a great listener. Ask open-ended questions and JUST LISTEN! If you want to interrupt….DON’T! “I can’t overemphasize this point enough. As you walk into a conference room, you should remind your Client to listen as well. INFORMATION IS POWER!!! Strategic information is something you give away, bit-by-bit, and only when you get information back in return as a “quid pro quo”. If you are disciplined in your listening, you’ll be surprised how much strategic information can be gathered. You can learn about the owner’s need to finance the new stadium because he is strapped for cash. Perhaps the general manager, (GM), hints that the next player on the depth chart is contemplating retirement. Every little bit of information can be used to develop a stronger position of power for you and your Client. If you, or maybe even your Client have a problem with listening, try writing yourselves a note… “LISTEN! DON’T TALK!”

Tip #3 – PREPARE, PREPARE, PREPARE Once you have consulted with your Client and developed a clear understanding of their desires and objectives, it is time to prepare. There is no special formula, no secret key to success here, diligent hard work is the only answer. Any negotiation can be won or lost before talks ever begin if you do not prepare properly. And when you are going up against the Billionaire Boys’ Club that we all fondly call the NFL, you better be prepared. These billionaire owners are not looking to hand out their hard earned dollars simply because your client came to practice on-time and played every down last year. Not to mention the

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Copyright © 2006 Donald L. West, Jr., Esq.

Tips for Negotiating an NFL Contract

detailed salary cap reports and negotiation alerts that each team receives from the NFL’s Management Council. These reports are detailed guidelines for each GM, telling him what points the agents may bring up and giving facts and statistics to help defeat the agent’s best arguments. You have to be sharp and diligent to beat resources like those that the NFL General Managers have at their finger tips. Each team has an experienced General Manager, sometimes a separate additional experienced NFL negotiator, and usually a separate salary cap expert. Three minds combined with the resources from the NFL Management Council, adds up to one well-prepared opponent. But it is not a completely lopsided battle; as Agents we have our bag of tricks as well. We get detailed salary cap information and updates from the NFLPA Salary Cap Department, and here at RSM we also maintain our own internal contract database that monitors the salary levels of all the various positions and players throughout the entire NFL. Prior to any negotiation you run exhaustive analysis of past NFL drafts, team depth charts, prior team records, coaching staffs, scouting reports, comparing player salaries and contract structures, as well as team market demographics to determine off-the-field marketing opportunities. Once all of the information has been gathered and cross-checked, here at RSM we run the data through our RSM Strategy Matrix™ and ultimately develop a refined negotiation position custom tailored to each Client’s unique circumstances and variables. This way, when you walk into the team’s conference room, you have a very clear and precise picture of where you are trying to get to in the conversation.

Tip #4 – Be Willing to Go the Extra Mile It all starts with preparation. But in some instances you are required to go above and beyond for your client. Take time to decide what you want and then plan a strategy for getting there. When we were hired by Andre Johnson, then a rookie who had been drafted third overall by the Houston Texans, Andre’s number one priority was to be in training camp on-time. We had decided that he would have the best chance to develop into a superstar by not missing a single day of camp. To try to maximize our chances of achieving the goal, we set up a complete field-office in Houston, Texas at the InterContinental Hotel, only minutes away from the Texans practice facility. This placed us in the greatest position to continually meet with the Texans to complete Andre’s contract negotiation before training camp opened. And we did not leave town until we had negotiated a contract that increased the overall dollars paid to the third pick from the year before. Also, due to the Strategy Matrix™, we were able to insure that Andre was not forced to reduce his contract value based on the “Non-Quarterback” discount many players are forced to receive. (The player selected no. 3 in 2002, the year before Andre was drafted, was Detroit’s Joey Harrington a high profile quarterback.) It is important to understand that there is always ‘give and take’ in any relationship. Therefore, you never want to start by putting everything you want on the table… the most important thing you can do is learn everything you can about the other side FIRST. This becomes increasingly important as you deal with a team or general manager, (GM), for the first time. The more you know about them, the more likely it is that you will be able to satisfy THEIR need while taking care of your CLIENT’S! When up against a polished GM, these initial conversations take on the feeling of a long and sometimes strange, if not awkward dance as each side seeks to feel out the other’s position. In a “typical negotiation,” (if there is such a thing), you need to discuss crucial points in between things you can easily give away. Contract length is always a critical point. The teams are

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Copyright © 2006 Donald L. West, Jr., Esq.

Tips for Negotiating an NFL Contract

usually looking to lock the player up for as long as possible; the player is usually looking for a shorter deal and the best opportunity to place his skills on the open market looking to achieve a bigger payday down the road. At this point in the negotiation you have met with the other side and developed a thorough understanding of their initial position and the rationales behind it. You now should also know the areas where you will have to give in the most. This is the point when we would re-run our RSM Strategy Matrix™ and incorporate all the new information gained from the team’s negotiation personnel. Armed with these final pieces to the puzzle, you can then begin to craft a custom contract structure and economic package that seeks to maximize your Client’s position, while also staying mindful of the needs and sensitivities of the franchise. This is the point in an NFL negotiation when creativity and a deep working knowledge of the various salary cap mechanisms become an invaluable asset to you, and more importantly, to your Client. In executing your final strategy, you should be able to create a win-win solution for your Client and the team. In a perfect world the entire process ends in a press conference where all parties are smiling and genuinely happy about the results. © 2006, Donald L. West, Jr., Esq Don West is an attorney in Tampa, Florida and currently serves as the Director of Football Operations for Revolution Sports Management, Inc. He can be contacted at don@revolutionagent.com. Revolution Sports Management, Inc. was founded in 2002 and specializes in the career management of elite professional athletes. Revolution Sports is based in Tampa, Florida and currently represents professional athletes in the NFL, NBA and MLB. To learn more about Revolution Sports Management, Inc. visit the Company’s website at www.RevolutionAgent.com.

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Copyright © 2006 Donald L. West, Jr., Esq.