by Prabhdeep Dhami, junior sports editor
Ryan Leaf or Peyton Manning, Greg Oden or Kevin Durant, Steve Chilcott or Reggie Jackson. It’s that one draft selection that can make a team a future playoff caliber team or another couple of seasons of mediocrity.
Manning, Durant, and Jackson all turned out to be future all-stars and Hall of Famers, while Leaf, Oden and Chilcott turned out to be the bust of the century. A lot of pressure goes on the front office of the team and receives a lot of criticism if the draft pick does not pan out. However the agent of the player may have it a little easier.
The draft process – sports agent perspective
The job of a sports agent is to get the best contract they can get for their player. A Lot of factors go into when searching for the right contract, money, family, and location.
One agent who preferred to stay anonymous said, “The most important part of my job is protecting my clients. You need to make sure their deals are fair. It’s also their marketing and apparel deals, promotional deals and appearance deals to go along with anything that is related to their specific contract. Without covering all of those things and being available to them 24/7 I wouldn’t have any clients.”
When asked about the process of the draft and free agency “It’s a very stressful time because there are many expectations on both sides, the club(s) and the family. Your job is to make sure your client and their family are up to date and comfortable with everything, to keep their stress low. Many times things don’t go as expected so you have to always be prepared to make adjustments. The final decision is always the client’s,”.
When asked about issues that arise “They hardly ever do. You always try to negotiate in good faith, but your job is to always get what is best for your client. Many times you’ll think you have a deal in place and it changes at last minute, so you need to be prepared for those possibilities. There is a lot more work that goes into representing athletes than people realize”.
The draft process – students perspective
“ It’s definitely not going to be easy, everyone is going to be looking for the next big thing. You have to have a lot of connections,travel a lot, and be away from family but at the end it’s all going to be worth it”, said junior Maxwell Smith who wants to be a future sports agent.
Sidebar
Feb. 16 – First day for clubs to designate Franchise or Transition Players.
Feb. 23-29: NFL Scouting Combine, Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis.
March 1: Deadline for clubs to designate Franchise or Transition Players at 4 p.m. ET.
March 7-9: Clubs are permitted to contact and enter into contract negotiations with the certified agents of players who will become Unrestricted Free Agents upon the expiration of their 2015 Player Contracts at 4 p.m., ET, on March 9. However, a contract cannot be executed with a new club until 4 p.m., ET, on March 9.
March 9: 2016 NFL League Year begins. Free agency opens at 4 p.m. ET.
Prior to 4 p.m. ET, clubs must exercise options for 2016 on all players who have option clauses in their 2015 contracts.
Prior to 4 p.m. ET, clubs must submit qualifying offers to their Restricted Free Agents with expiring contracts and to whom they desire to retain a Right of First Refusal/Compensation.
March 20-23: Annual League Meeting, Boca Raton, Florida.
April 4: Clubs that hired a new head coach after the end of the 2015 regular season may begin offseason workout programs.
April 18: Clubs with returning head coaches may begin offseason workout programs.
April 22: Deadline for Restricted Free Agents to sign Offer Sheets.
April 28-30: 2016 NFL Draft, Chicago, Illinois.
After the final selection in the Draft has been made, clubs may begin signing Undrafted Free Agents who were eligible for the 2016 Draft.
May 6-9 or May 13-16: Teams may elect to hold their one three-day post-draft rookie mini camp from Friday through Sunday or Saturday through Monday of the first or second weekend after the NFL draft.
May 20-23: NFLPA Rookie Premiere. Invited Rookies (typically, first and/or second-round selections) must be permitted by their respective clubs to attend. Such players are unavailable for offseason workouts, OTA days, and minicamps during this period.
May 23-25: NFL Spring League Meeting, Charlotte, North Carolina.
June 1: Deadline for prior club to send “June 1 Tender” to its unsigned Restricted Free Agents who received a qualifying offer for a Right of First Refusal Only in order for such player to be subject to the CBA’s “June 15 Tender” provision.
For any player removed from the club’s roster or whose contract is assigned via waivers or trade on or after June 2, any unamortized signing bonus amounts for future years will be included fully in Team Salary at the start of the 2017 League Year.
June 19-25: Rookie Symposium, Aurora, Ohio.
July 15: At 4 p.m. ET, deadline for any club that designated a Franchise Player to sign such player to a multiyear contract or extension. After this date, the player may sign only a one-year contract with his prior club for the 2016 season, and such contract cannot be extended until after the club’s last regular season game.
Mid-July: Training camps open. Clubs are permitted to open preseason training camp for rookies and first-year players beginning seven days prior to the club’s earliest permissible mandatory reporting date for veteran players. Veteran players (defined as a player with at least one pension-credited season) other than quarterbacks or injured players may report to a club’s preseason training camp no earlier than 15 days prior to the club’s first scheduled preseason game or July 15, whichever is later.
November 2: Eligible players became free agents at 9 am ET Monday. The list of free agents is 139 names long.
November 4: Most option decisions due. (Some contracts specify different dates.) Among the most notable option decisions this year include Alex Gordon ($12.5 million player option), Jose Bautista ($14 million club option), R.A. Dickey ($12 million club option) and Clay Buchholz ($13 million club option).
November 6: Deadline for teams to make eligible players a qualifying offer. The qualifying offer is a one-year contract worth $15.8 million this offseason. Here’s a primer.
November 7: End of the exclusive negotiating period. At 12:01 am ET this coming Saturday, free agents are free to sign with any team.
November 9-12: GM Meetings in Boca Raton, Florida. There are a few transactions during the GM Meetings, but mostly preliminary talks occur here.
November 10: Finalists for each of the major awards are announced. Also, Gold Glove winners will be announced. Here are the Gold Glove finalists.
November 13: Deadline for free agents to accept or reject the qualifying offer. No one has ever accepted the qualifying offer and I don’t think that will change this year. Players who reject the qualifying offer will be tied to draft pick compensation in free agency.
November 16-19: Major awards announced. Rookies of the Year will be announced Monday, following by Managers of the Year Tuesday, Cy Youngs Wednesday and MVPs Thursday.
November 18-19: Owners’ meetings in Dallas.
November 20: Deadline for teams to set their 40-man rosters for the Rule 5 Draft.
December 2: Deadline for teams to tender a contract offer to their pre-arbitration and arbitration-eligible players. Those who do not receive a tender become free agents. A whole new batch of players will hit the open market this day.
December 7-10: Winter Meetings in Nashville. These are the craziest days of the offseason. Lots of trades and free agent signings go down this week.
December 10: Rule 5 Draft. As a reminder, players taken in the Rule 5 Draft must stick on their new team’s active 25-man roster for the entire 2016 season, or they have to go through waivers and be offered back to their old team before going to the minors.
January 6: Hall of Fame voting results announced. Ken Griffey Jr. is the most notable first-timer joining the ballot this winter.
January 12: Deadline for eligible players to file for salary arbitration. A formality.
January 15: Deadline for teams and eligible players to file salary figures for arbitration.
February 1-21: Salary arbitration hearings. Most players will sign before going to a hearing. If they do go to a hearing, the three-person panel will hear each side’s case and pick either the salary the team filed or the salary the player filed, nothing in between.
Mid-February: Spring training opens across Florida and Arizona.
April 4: Opening Day!
Sept. 10-12 — Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Enshrinement (Springfield, MA)
Sept. 25 — First allowable date for players participating in preseason NBA Global Games to report to their teams (no earlier than 11 a.m. local time)
Sept. 26 — Training Camps open for all teams participating in preseason NBA Global Games
Sept. 28 — First allowable date for all other players to report to their teams (no earlier than 11 a.m. local time)
Sept. 29 — Training Camps open for all other teams
Oct. 4 — NBA Canada Series 2015, L.A. Clippers vs. Toronto Raptors (Vancouver)
Oct. 6 — NBA Global Games 2015, Olimpia Milano vs. Boston Celtics (Milan, Italy)
Oct. 8 — NBA Global Games 2015, Real Madrid vs. Boston Celtics (Madrid, Spain)
Oct. 10 — NBA Canada Series 2015, Chicago Bulls vs. Minnesota Timberwolves (Winnipeg)
Oct. 11 — NBA Global Games 2015, Charlotte Hornets vs. L.A. Clippers (Shenzhen, China)
Oct. 14 — NBA Global Games 2015, Charlotte Hornets vs. L.A. Clippers (Shanghai, China)
Oct. 14 — NBA Canada Series 2015, Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Toronto Raptors (Ottawa)
Oct. 17 — NBA Global Games 2015, Flamengo vs. Orlando Magic (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
Oct. 23 — NBA Canada Series 2015, Toronto Raptors vs. Washington Wizards (Montreal)
Oct. 23 — NBA Preseason ends
Oct. 26 — Rosters set for NBA Opening Day
Oct. 27 — Start of the 2015-16 NBA Regular Season (NBA Tip-Off 2015)
Dec. 3 — NBA Global Games 2015, Boston Celtics vs. Sacramento Kings (Mexico City)
2016
Jan. 5 — 10-day contracts may now be signed
Jan. 10 — All contracts are guaranteed for the remainder of the season
Jan. 14 — NBA Global Games 2016, Orlando Magic vs. Toronto Raptors (London)
Feb. 12-14 — NBA All-Star 2016 (Toronto, Canada)
Feb. 18 — Trade deadline, 3 p.m. ET
March 1 — Playoff Eligibility Waiver Deadline
April 13-16 — Portsmouth Invitational Tournament (Portsmouth, VA)
April 13 — Regular Season ends
April 15 — Rosters set for NBA Playoffs 2016, 3 p.m. ET
April 16 — NBA Playoffs 2016 begin
April 24 — NBA Early Entry Eligibility Deadline (11:59 p.m. ET)
May 2 — Conference Semifinals begin (possible move up to April 30 or May 1)
May 11-15 — NBA Draft Combine 2016 (Chicago)
May 17 — Conference Finals begin (possible move up to May 15 or 16)
May 17 — NBA Draft Lottery 2016
June 2 — NBA Finals 2016 begin
June 13 — NBA Draft Early Entry Entrant Withdrawal Deadline (5:00 p.m. ET)
TBD — The Finals 2016 latest possible date
June 23 — NBA Draft 2016
