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Contract Negotiation NFL Players Sports Agents

2007 – The Year of the NFL Agent

We will pretend that it says

Yes, the Chinese have dubbed 2007 to be The Year of the NFL Agent…you heard it here first.

But on a serious note, look out for an uncapped 2007 in the National Football League.

Straight from the mouth of NFLPA executive director Gene Upshaw:

March 3 will be the beginning of a new league year and we are just not there yet. I’m taking the position now that it (an extension to the collective bargaining agreement) won’t get done.

This is something unheard of outside of the MLB realm of thought. A year without any type of salary cap? A year where salaries were determined by a free, unregulated market, where big market teams could pay a lot more for expensive players? Take a second to think about what this may do to the NFL and competitive balance.

The major issues holding back the extension of the CBA are:
1. Percentage of total revenue awarded to players
2. Revamped revenue sharing among teams
3. Implementation of a “flip tax” for the NFLPA to gain money when cash is loaned to teams to finance new stadiums

It should be extremely interesting to see how NFL Agents negotiate contracts for their clients in the wake of an uncapped year. Straight from Gene Upshaw: “I’m going to tell the agents to do deals as if there is no salary cap in 2007 if we don’t have a deal by Friday.”

[tags]nflpa, cba, gene upshaw, nfl agent, sports agent, nfl[/tags]

By Darren Heitner

Darren Adam Heitner, Esq., is a preeminent sports attorney and the founder of Heitner Legal, P.L.L.C., a Fort Lauderdale-based law firm specializing in sports law, contract negotiations, intellectual property, and arbitration. He earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Florida Levin College of Law in 2010 and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, magna cum laude, from the University of Florida in 2007, where he was named Valedictorian of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Admitted to practice in the state bars of Florida, New York, and the District of Columbia, as well as multiple federal courts, Darren also serves as a certified arbitrator with the American Arbitration Association.

As an adjunct professor, Darren imparts his expertise through teaching Sports Law at the University of Florida Levin College of Law and Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) at the University of Miami School of Law in the Entertainment, Arts, and Sports Law LL.M. program. His scholarly contributions include authoring several books published by the American Bar Association, such as How to Play the Game: What Every Sports Attorney Needs to Know, and numerous articles in prominent publications like Forbes, Inc. Magazine, and Above the Law. His thought leadership in NIL has earned him recognition as one of the foremost experts by The Wall Street Journal, USA TODAY, and On3, and he has been lauded as a “power player in NIL deals” by Action Network and a “top sports trademark attorney” by Sportico.

Darren’s passion for sports law led him to establish Sports Agent Blog on December 31, 2005, initially titled “I Want To Be A Sports Agent.” The platform, created as a New Year’s resolution, has grown into a cornerstone of the sports agency community, offering in-depth analysis of industry trends, legal disputes, and agent-player dynamics. His commitment to the field is further evidenced by his representation of numerous athletes and sports agents, as well as his prior role as an Adjunct Professor at Indiana University Bloomington, where he developed and taught a course on Sport Agency Management from 2011 to 2014.

Darren’s contributions have been recognized with prestigious honors, including the University of Florida’s 40 Under 40 Award, the University of Florida Levin College of Law’s Outstanding Young Alumnus Award, and designation as the best lawyer in Fort Lauderdale by Fort Lauderdale Magazine. He remains an active voice in the sports law community, sharing insights through his weekly NIL newsletter and his X posts, engaging a broad audience on legal developments in sports.