Interesting Rosenhaus Article

[Chavez]

Tad Packer-centric, but seems to be a fair treatment

 

Already, Drew Rosenhaus has forced trades that probably have had a bearing on a team's record, last year's Mike McKenzie deal being a prime example. Terrell Owens' contentious contract dispute could blow up at any moment and hurt the Philadelphia Eagles' chances of getting back to the Super Bowl. Without Javon Walker, the Green Bay Packers probably are dead ducks in terms of this year's playoff race.

 

Ideally, I would like to be in a position where I represent 100 guys in the NFL, to be in a position where I could control whether some teams win or lose. - Drew Rosenhaus

 

Has that dreaded day of reckoning arrived where an agent can be as influential as the coaches and players in shaping the National Football League races? Has Rosenhaus finally achieved the ambitious goal that he spelled out in an interview 10 years ago with the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel?

 

It almost seems that way.

 

With a client base that is approaching 100 and so many of them high-profile players, Rosenhaus wields considerable clout in the NFL. And, in turn, if he's encouraging his players to withhold their services, he could hold a team's fate in his hands.

 

But Ernie Accorsi, general manager of the New York Giants, doesn't see the threat.

 

"I just have never seen that with him," said Accorsi. "He has a pretty good presence in our locker room now - (Jeremy) Shockey, (Plaxico) Burress - but I don't fear him for any kind of collective holdout. He's a look you in the eye, this is what I want kind of guy. He can drive you crazy, but in the whole realm of what we have to deal with, I don't wince when he has a player."

 

The Packers might feel different, but Andrew Brandt, the team's vice president of player finance and front man for all negotiations, declined a request for an interview. That said, Brandt was able to come to terms with Rosenhaus on two free-agent deals this past off-season for safeties Arturo Freeman and Earl Little.

 

That alone suggests it's simply a bargaining dispute - not a personality clash - that has prevented Brandt and Rosenhaus from negotiating new contracts for Walker and Grady Jackson.

 

"I think what happened was that maybe (Rosenhaus) got what he wanted when he went through it with Mike McKenzie," said one NFL executive, who asked not to be identified. "So he's gone to these guys and said, 'Look what I did. Mike McKenzie wanted out and I put them in a corner and he got out.'

 

"I think we've got an agent who has decided to raise some hell and maybe if he hadn't gotten away with it with McKenzie, nobody would be doing anything."

 

Rosenhaus also appears to be challenging the NFL's contract system and, indirectly, the NFL Players Association. He has harped all off-season about how clubs break contracts all the time and how NFL players suffer from not having guaranteed deals.

 

But Rosenhaus claims that it's not his mission to undermine the NFLPA. And neither the union nor other agents seem to perceive him as a threat, at least on that front.

 

After all, there is nothing in the NFL's collective bargaining agreement that prohibits Rosenhaus or any other agent from negotiating a guaranteed contract. And the players that Rosenhaus represents who are seeking new deals aren't looking for more security. They all want more money.

 

"I certainly don't think anything Drew is doing is going to change the manner in which contracts are negotiated," said Frank Murtha, an agent based in the Chicago area whose firm represents about 50 NFL players. "I don't see any one agent being able to turn what has been a historical trend."

Union likes its deal

 

The NFLPA, as one would expect, believes that its members are better off under the current system than they would be if there were no signing bonuses, only guaranteed deals like in baseball and basketball.

 

"Let's just say if I could wave a magic wand and, hereafter, all contracts that are signed are guaranteed, 80% of the players in this league would have one-year contracts because the clubs wouldn't want to take a chance on injury," said Richard Berthelsen, general counsel for the union.

 

In the final analysis, the underlying reason for Rosenhaus' contentious negotiations with the Packers and other NFL teams this off-season probably couldn't be more rudimentary.

 

Most of his clients who are seeking to renegotiate - Walker, Jackson, McKenzie, Owens, Anquan Bolden, Reuben Droughns among others - left other agents.

 

Until they sign new contracts, they must continue to pay their former agents - the normal fee is 3% - a portion of their salary and any bonuses they earn. In fact, even if those players sign new deals, their former agents will still get their cut of whatever money is owed to them under the old contracts. Rosenhaus will only receive a percentage of the new money.

 

And, for now, he isn't making anything off those players. For example, Walker is due a $515,000 salary this year and a $650,000 salary next season; and his former agent David Ware presumably will receive 3% of the total, although Ware declined to confirm the details of his contract with Walker. Rosenhaus won't receive a penny unless he's successful in renegotiating a new deal and he'll only get a cut of what Walker earns above and beyond his old salaries.

 

There's also another elementary principle involved here: Leverage. The Packers will have more of it once the season starts, but, for now, Walker holds some trump cards.

 

Based on the terms of the signing bonus provision of his contract, according to a source with access to NFLPA data, the Packers can't reclaim any of the $3 million signing bonus paid to Walker in 2002 until he misses time in the regular-season. The Packers could fine Walker $6,000 a day and possibly reclaim a percentage of a $1.3 million option bonus, but the consequences for him missing camp wouldn't be as punitive as what Owens faces in Philadelphia.

 

That's probably why Owens said last week that he'll report for camp, whereas Walker is still threatening to hold out.

 

The terms of Owen's contract would allow the Eagles to recoup $1.87 million of his $2.25 million signing bonus if he doesn't report to camp on time, according to the same source. Plus, Owens would be subject to the same fines as Walker and possibly a bonus penalty.

 

Based on interviews with six other agents and all the venomous quotes that have been given to other media outlets this off-season, it seems clear that no agent is more despised by his peers than Rosenhaus.

 

Their biggest beef is that he actively recruits their clients in violation of an NFLPA rule. Moreover, according to NFLPA records, competing agents have filed more grievances against Rosenhaus than anyone else in their business, although not one has ever been fully litigated.

 

Rosenhaus also has become a lightning rod for irate fans, who blame him for encouraging players to break contracts and to boycott camp. But who is the villain here, if there is one?

 

"Listen, what the fans have to remember, the agent is simply a mouthpiece in a lot of ways for the player," said Mark Lepselter, an agent who recently dropped a grievance against Rosenhaus after he was promised his money back from a client. "As agents, we get the reputation for being villains all the time. Let me tell you something, a lot of these players aren't such wonderful people."

 

In the late 1990s, Accorsi decided that Jessie Armstead, a one-time eighth-round draft pick who had emerged as a Pro Bowl linebacker, was underpaid and voluntarily approached Rosenhaus about improving Armstead's contract. The two agreed on a deal, but Accorsi said it "opened a Pandora's box" Every year for the next three years, Rosenhaus tried to get a still better deal for Armstead.

 

Now, as Accorsi looks back on those developments, he views them from a different perspective.

 

"I really do believe that he does what his players want," said Accorsi. "My guess is that Armstead is the one who wanted to renegotiate all the time. The reason I say that is (Rosenhaus) doesn't do it with Shockey. He hasn't done it with other players that he has had here."

 

Accorsi calls Rosenhaus "a dealmaker, not a deal-breaker." Ron Wolf, former general manager of the Packers, said that also was his recollection of Rosenhaus.

 

Rosenhaus has put himself on a collision course with several teams, including the Packers, and those teams have decided this is the year to dig in their heels.

 

"I think his only mission is to get more clients and make more money for himself," said one NFL executive. "I just think that's the way he's going to operate and he's going to drive people crazy. But you can't let him get the best of you."

 

[CaptainHook]

I find it funny that Edge, T.O. and Walker are now all going to report. So much for "clout". Money talks and b.s. walks.