Lamar Jackson isn’t the only professional athlete without an agent. Last season was available 17 NFL players representative for himself. The list includes Bobby Wagner, DeAndre Hopkins and the highest-paid left-hander in the NFL, Laremy Tunsil.
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported on Sunday that Tunsil signed a new three-year deal with the Houston Texans for $75 million, $50 million of which is fully guaranteed. By representing himself, this is the second time Tunsil has made huge amounts of money without the service of a full-time agent.
That’s definitely great news for any midfielder Houston Texas selected as the #2 overall pick in the NFL Draft. Organization can be a bonfire but at least a rookie quarterback will have some reliably blind protection. Tunsil certainly seems to have placed a stigma on its notoriety gas mask bong hit video Behind him.
The Arizona Cardinals are now looking to trade DeAndre Hopkins as they try to rebuild after a season where the team was ousted in the first six weeks. Hopkins was suspended during that time for violating the NFL’s performance-enhancing drugs policy. The suspension is unpaid, so of course, it hurts. However, the pain was certainly minimized as he reminded himself of the massive master extension he signed. In 2020, Hopkins signed a two-year contract extension with the Cardinals worth $54.5 million, of which $42.75 million was secured.
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Having an agent can make an athlete’s life easier. It keeps them from having uncomfortable conversations with their boss. In addition, those bosses will have intense conversations with a familiar person. A business suit and briefcase are essential pieces of equipment for a sports worker that will allow for much less wear and tear and a much longer career than a professional football player.
All that said, the familiarity between those two can lead athletes to question whether agents are really operating in the best interests of their clients. Since agents have long-term relationships with office workers, they probably don’t go to great lengths to get a contract as fully guaranteed as Jackson might want.
Obviously, most players are perfectly fine letting others negotiate for them. More times than not, agents make an ideal contract offer. The agents that do all that work then allow players to focus on being the best athlete they can be, then spend the rest of their time doing whatever they want to do.
That life is not for everyone. Some players would rather keep the money to themselves than pay the agent, others are keen to negotiate on their own. They don’t mind fighting against their team’s front office. Some players have a pragmatic approach to their careers and want to make every decision, every step of the way.
It’s a road less traveled, but everyone should always have the right to choose how they navigate their journey. As long as they don’t harm others, they shouldn’t be judged on how they choose to live their lives.
If Jackson, Hopkins, Tunsil and some other players want to represent themselves in contract negotiations that’s fine. It has obviously worked for Hopkins and Tunsil, so Jackson getting a deal that works for him is certainly not impossible.
There are many reasons why Jackson still hasn’t received the amount he wanted Baltimore Crow’ starting at quarterback, and we NFL watchers probably don’t know most of them. But what Tunsil’s new contract has to prove is that athletes representing themselves don’t inherently make teams less willing to budge in negotiations.
