The NFL juggernaut agent, Drew Rosenhaus, announced DeSean Jackson is once again a member of the Rosenhaus family. DeSean is now an unrestricted free agent after splitting his time between the Rams and Raiders last season.
If there was any animosity that may have lingered following the 3-year legal dispute between Jackson and Rosenhaus, it has evidently been repaired. The aforementioned legal battle began in 2013 when Jackson, near the peak of his football success, fired Rosenhaus as his agent and hired Joel Segal. Rosenhaus consequently filed a grievance with the NFLPA, asserting he was owed upward of $400,000 worth of unpaid loans borrowed by DeSean during the prior four years. That total ballooned to $516,415 following the ruling from an NFLPA arbitrator.
Jackson claimed Rosenhaus induced his signature with the agency in the form of a Louis Vuitton bag filled with cash which, if true, would be a blatant violation of NFLPA agent bribery rules. Additionally, Jackson’s legal team challenged the arbitration ruling on account Rosenhaus failed to disclose his prior relationship with Roger Kaplan, the appointed arbitrator of the case. When the dust settled, U.S. District Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald ruled in favor of Jackson. Yet, when the case went back to arbitration, Rosenhaus ultimately came out on top.
The two parties are clearly allowing bygones to be bygones as they move forward with their professional relationship. Jackson, now on the tail-end of his dominant career, will be grateful to have the super-agent on his side of the negotiation table once again.
Rosenhaus has ensured the players under his representation are earning their market value this offseason. Shortly after being traded to the dolphins, client Tyreek Hill signed a 4-year $120 million extension, making him the highest-paid WR in NFL history. DeSean won’t be setting contract records at this point in his career, but Rosenhaus will help him seize the remaining value he brings to the football field.