OT - Ndamukong Suh to act as his own agent
Suh is reportedly considering being his own agent to negotiate his next upcoming deal with the Lions, even though the Lions front office is not supportive of this idea. The article sites a couple examples of players in the past doing that and why it is a very bad idea.
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap2000000330597/article/ndamukong-suh-considering-being-his-own-agent
and has a good business mind. I honestly don't think this is that far "out there."
Take the old contract, change some dates, add a few zero's, and send it to Martin Mahew. Keep the percentage you paid your last agent.
Tedy Bruschi's deal was so bad.
Also, he could just hire an awesome contract lawyer for <$5,000 to review and reword language. It's not that big of a deal.
It smacks of ego and arrogance when players rep themselves. Suh in particular is a very good football player who has a track record of being a hot head on the field. I cannot imagine when the talks start that he's going to be able to keep his cool long enough to "negotiate" in an orderly manner, to say nothing of the fact that he just isn't a lawyer/contract artist.
Yeah, he goes overboard sometimes during a violent, physical game like football, so he's probably going to reach across the table and beat Mayhew to a pulp when Mayhew rejects his first offer.
Looking to be paid with these...
Yeah, unless you're well versed in the financial and legal side of everything that goes into these contracts, probably not the best idea to negotiate yourself. Especially in the land of unguaranteed contracts like the NFL has.
... if he feels he can get the same deal an agent offers (or even slightly worse) without the agent cost, it's logical. I just can't imagine the effort is worth it, though.
What say you Jim Leahy?
Seems to me that the worst part (from the Lions' perspective) is that the player has to hear all the negatives during negotiations. One important role of the agent is to filter those comments so a deal can happen.
There were so many incentives in the Master P/Ricky Williams contract... I think Ricky met 0 of those that year and made pennies on the dollar.
I think Suh>Master P+Ricky when it comes to intelligence... but I still think it's a bad idea.
Hiring a professional is always worth the commission. Suh may be extremely intelligent, but he needs someone with experience to negotiate for him.
Its a lot like getting someone to do your taxes for you. I could do them well enough to file and not get in trouble, but I'll probably save myself some money in the long run by having a professional do it.
It isn't just that an agent will know the financial and legal sides of deals, it also is because an agent can buffer you from the front office. For instance an agent can get angry and demand a higher pay while insulating the player from any backlash. This way Suh can say, "It's not me that wants to holdout, I'm just doing what my agent told me to do....," so that when Suh does get a contract by either the Lions or another team, he can report to camp with a smile on his face and be accepted by his team.
As a law student who has taken a basic Contracts course, this seems like a terrible idea. NFL contracts are not just a matter of "I will pay you X amount for Y years." The legal field is a mess of jargon, disclaimers, and words that may or may not mean what you think they mean. Unless Suh has been studying NFL contracts since he made it to the NFL, this probably won't work out well. There is a reason that agents get a significant slice of the pie when contracts are signed -- their expertise is very valuable and can spell the difference between a fair contract and one that is "fair" according to an NFL organization's team of lawyers.
As a lawyer who's been negotiating contracts for 20 years, this is a disaster waiting to happen. There are so many reasons for having someone handling the negotiations on your behalf. In another context, he might be able to hire an attorney who will do similar things at a flat dollar number, and save himself some money, but I understand that teams will only negotiate with an agent approved to handle NFL players. If he's planning on negotiating this by himself, he's in for a world of hurt. The only way this might work to even a limited degree is if he brings in an attorney, shuts up, and lets the attorney do all the real work. That takes a level of self control most people just don't possess.
I could be wrong, but I'm not.
As an aside to this , there was an article recently - Pat Kirwin at CBS, I think - which talked about a seemingly growing trend in the draft of players perhaps representing themselves for the first deal, which I suppose might be fine for a fair number of players. The second contract and beyond, however, when there is more money perhaps on the table, I don't think that the same logic would apply - that's definitely when an agent should be involved, I think.
I would assume that after the $$ is agreed upon, a lot of these contracts are mostly canned language. He will definitely want an attorney to look it over, but he does not have to hand over a good portion of his earnings to somebody who would most likely look at other top d-lineman contracts and negotiate something along those lines. Basically "I am a top d-line player. Other top d-line players get x. I want x or maybe even x times 1.025. Fair enough?"
What are you basing that assumption on? And do you have any legal background? Because "canned language" can be a scary proposition if a multi-billion dollar organization is the one that is producing the "canned language." I am taking Employment Law right now and, while most contracts are not on par with what Suh will be getting, I have no doubt that there is legalese and complicated legal precedent associated with NFL contracts that could spell the difference between a great contract and an awful contract for Suh.
For instance (and this won't be relevant to Suh's deal), did you know that a contract providing for "employment for life" is equivalent to "I can fire you at any time without repercussion"?
That's just annoying.
If Suh was smart about it, he could probably pull it off. He should have a good idea of his market value and can insist on a straightforward deal. He can and should still pay a lawyer an hourly rate to review the contract. If negotiations don't go the way he wants, he could still hire someone to take over.
I wouldn't mind if the Lions traded him for a good corner or WR.
I know some people think this is idiotic, but he might as well do what he feels is best. I know he can find a great agent and lawyer if he wants, but we've seen quite a few "agents" royally screw up, even good ones, in these circumstances. It happens. So if Suh figures he knows what he wants and can get it, might as well save the money.
Agents are not always lawyers and primarily serve to find new people to compete for your services, whether on the field or for endorcements. Suh is not getting endorsements and even if he does he can find an agent only for that purpose. If he only plans to sign with the Lions, there is no benefit to having an agent from his point of view. Yes, the Lions may like that separation, but that does not benefit Suh as much as it does the Lions.
Bottom line, this is a good move.
He graduated from the engineering college at Nebraska, so he's not too dumb. But if I were lining up opposite obese monsters and banging heads with them for a living, I'd have someone else negotiate my contract. Commissions can always be negotiated down, especially when you're one of the best at what you do and know where you want to be.
that's an awful lot of input for someone who downvoted my post.
If you don't like what I have to say, go ahead and downvote me. If you need to downvote me because I did the same to you, then grow up.
that's not how I roll.
But again, for someone who had a lot to say about the topic, the downvote is curious. That's all I was saying. I don't really care about points, just people's motivations.
Edit: Even adding an upvote as a gesture of good faith.