Rams’ picks are all unsigned, with financial counseling coming first

[Prime Time]

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.co...igned-with-financial-counseling-coming-first/

Rams’ picks are all unsigned, with financial counseling coming first
Posted by Michael David Smith on May 30, 2015

AP

Most of this year’s NFL draft picks have already signed their contracts. But none of the Rams’ picks have.

That’s because the Rams’ policy is to give each player financial counseling before anyone signs a contract.

In each of the last two years, the Rams have signed all their picks en masse, after gathering the rookie class together and giving the players a course on financial management. Players are instructed on what the team calls “Financial Planning 101,” with information about how to invest and how not to go broke.

The Rams’ rookies will get signing bonuses of anywhere from $70,000 for seventh-round pick Martin Ifedi, all the way up to more than $8 million for first-round pick Todd Gurley. The Rams want to give those players the money they need to use that money wisely.

The Collective Bargaining Agreement agreed upon in 2011 makes rookie contracts so straightforward that there’s little to negotiate, and little reason not to sign immediately. Except for the reason the Rams have found: Making sure players have some information about how to invest their money before they receive it.
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I love this idea ! This should be mandatory for all teams.
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What a great thing to do. Other teams should follow suit.
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Finally. A team that cares. Khan! Do this, man! You’re a self-made guy that had nothing and you’re now a billionaire. Let these kids learn! No $55,000 dinners for 22 year olds to pay for unless it’s their wedding.

I was listening to a successful businessman, both financially & in building companies complain about a $12,000 dinner tab in Boston for a dinner for 10 & all I could think about was Dez Bryant’s tab. Stupid.
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Good for the Rams. About time a team looks to the future of its players.
Now how about teams bring in players whose moral compass wasn’t formed from watching jersey shore and atlanta house wives, or whatever the latest moronic “reality” show is popular now.
Trying not to sound old here but, lets be honest.

These kids definately need to be made aware of financial issues that can arise from “suddenly’ having money. But they also need to realize that reality show behavoir is not the norm. It caters to the worst of a society. Being “gangsta” is not cool its a dead end street.

 

[jap]

This is all standard procedure with The Fisher King. He should present this idea to Goodall and say, "If you want your regime to be remembered for something that is actually, actually positive, make this mandatory for all NFL teams, you damn nitwit!"

 

[den-the-coach]

I really embrace the way the Rams go about this and the fact they sign all the draft choices simultaneously.

Now I realize the CBA has changed that makes signing rookies so much easier, but all of us that endured the regime of Ziggy the Terrible should still be collecting for pain and suffering!

 

[ReddingRam]

They are trying their best to protect the kids' investments, as well as their own investment in the kids. It's a win - win situation.

 

[snackdaddy]

Even if only a few heeds the advice its worth it. These kids have an opportunity to set themselves up financially for the rest of their lives. I know its hard to think that far down the road for a 22 year old kid, but compound interest at 22 gets you a whole lot more than at 32 when you turn 55.

 

[DaveFan'51]

As usual two thumbs up to Fisher and the Rams!! As @jap said the League should take this on as policy!!

 

[OldSchool]

Agree with all, this is his SOP and it's a great thing to do. I've heard other rookies and some vets when told about this program say they wished their drafting teams did something similar. The Brinx truck with the $1 million that he puts on the table seems to be the biggest message to hit home.

 

[LACHAMP46]

One reason why I give Snisher a pass...(on the backup QB situation & other goofs) because deep down, these guys are doing stuff so cutting edge and just good for the team/league. If any of you remember Georgia Frontierie, well, I haven't mentioned her name in a while, but she was more into feeling on the rookies than looking out for their best interests....Rams are really getting shit right....Only mess-ups are the weed guys, PEDs (Jo-Lon & Stedmon), and whatever JJ & Givens were into that made them miss a game...no problems...
This recent crop are all 4 year college guys, well except Todd G., and should be signed, sealed, and delivered to Earth City in no time...

 

[Robocop]

I swear I read that Fisher and Co. actually lay it out in cash money stacks and then start breaking it into a smaller pile pulling out taxes, costs and bills etc. serious visual learning

 

[RamzFanz]

This is all standard procedure with The Fisher King. He should present this idea to Goodall and say, "If you want your regime to be remembered for something that is actually, actually positive, make this mandatory for all NFL teams, you damn nitwit!"

Fisher is leading by example. A true skill. I'm going to be THE VERY FIRST to say, Fisher will be the NFL commissioner at some point.

 

[Prime Time]

http://mmqb.si.com/2015/06/04/nfl-rookie-contracts-cba-agents/

Jeff Lewis/AP

Easy Math for Rookies
Simplifying the contracts of first-year players has had unintended consequences, especially for agents.
By Andrew Brandt

There is perhaps no area in the business of football that has changed more from the 2011 collective bargaining agreement than rookie compensation. Slashing the pay of incoming players, who had no voice in the CBA negotiations, was an easy item on the collective bargaining checklist.

The old system
In negotiating more than 100 rookie contracts in my time in the NFL, I grew weary of the annual mating game over these deals. Agents were hesitant to negotiate before mid-July, fearful that contracts negotiated later for players taken in the same area of the draft would “jump their slot” and make them look bad in future recruiting (yes, agents recruit by pointing out deficiencies in other agents’ contracts, no matter how minimal).

Thus, most agents would wait until the round had filled in before simply slotting the contract, ensuring conformity in their negotiation. Indeed, when an agent proposed doing an early deal, it usually meant the player (or agent) needed money and couldn’t wait until July.

While the prior system had a limit on total rookie compensation, it was up to the team to determine how to allocate the Entering Player Pool, as it was called. In practice, first-round picks ended up receiving 55-60% of the pool, leaving the other 40-45% to divvy up among the rest of the team’s selections.

And agents for top picks were able leverage a Second Rookie Pool: money placed outside the traditional rookie pool through options, voids, buybacks, exploding escalators, etc. These contracts were among the most complicated and exhausting of any in the NFL, ranging up to 50 pages and consisting of layers upon layers of negotiable earnings.

The new system

The 2011 CBA took a sledgehammer to the old rookie compensation model. Owners thought top rookies made too much, and so did veteran player leadership at the union.

The new system eliminates the vast majority of negotiating required: contract value and bonus amounts are predetermined. There are very few negotiable items: offset language (the ability for the team to recover guaranteed money if the player is released and signs elsewhere), bonus payment terms, roster bonus allocations and other miscellaneous structural issues. Deals are negotiated within hours (Jameis Winston’s deal was negotiated the evening he was taken with the first pick).

Team negotiators who used to wait until mid-July to sign their draft picks are now finished negotiating by mid-May. As of this writing, roughly 90% of all draft picks have negotiated contracts, an astounding percentage compared to previous years (even 22 of the 32 first-rounders are signed). As one NFLPA executive told me about the new system, “a trained monkey could negotiate these contracts.”

Agent fee discussion

With this ease of negotiation, players and their advisors are negotiating fees downward before the agents negotiate their contracts. In talking to several top agents, it is clear that few, if any, top picks are paying the maximum 3% due to: 1) the lack of negotiation required; and 2) the downward pressure of the marketplace.

One top pick switched to an agent who told the player, “Pay me whatever you think is fair.” And I am told the agents for Marcus Mariota are working for an hourly rate only applicable to his contract negotiation (the clock does not run for other services). And, in the ultimate example of a changed environment, Ereck Flowers, the ninth pick in the draft, is negotiating with the Giants by himself. Were an agent charging Flowers the maximum 3% allowable fee on his predetermined fully guaranteed $14.4 million deal, that fee would be $432,000.

I know and appreciate the many services that an agent provides beyond the negotiation of the rookie contract including, but not limited to:

• Comprehensive pre-combine (and post-combine) training, fully expensed
• Managing surrounding issues involving the player, his family and friends
• Negotiation of marketing and endorsement agreements
• Providing a credit line of income prior to any earned income

While these services greatly facilitate a rookie’s transition into the NFL, they are disproportionately rendered during a player’s rookie season and players are questioning later payments over the four-year rookie contract.

These are difficult business decisions for agents, and there are unintended consequences of this downward market. Agents are now more aggressively seeking trading card and local marketing deals to recapture lost contract commissions. While an understandable business strategy, I have talked to team executives who are concerned about players burning out in marketing and becoming less enthusiastic about team community events. This will be an interesting trend to watch.

Like the rookies they represent, agents are now locked into a lowered income scale—assuming they aren’t getting left out of the equation altogether. Representing top picks is not what it used to be; the union has already done the bulk of the work, and the margins are declining.

 

[Rmfnlt]

Even if only a few heeds the advice its worth it. These kids have an opportunity to set themselves up financially for the rest of their lives. I know its hard to think that far down the road for a 22 year old kid, but compound interest at 22 gets you a whole lot more than at 32 when you turn 55.

I agree.

No stopping them from doing whatever they want with their money after the contracts are inked.

But this can't hurt in any way... like you said, if it makes just a few think about it and make better decisions, it was well worth the time.

I applaud this idea!!

 

[Ram Quixote]

Not only the financial angle, but they treat all their rookie deals the same; it creates a bond when they all sign at the same time.

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

So, do the drafted players not get any money from the Rams at all until they sign a contract or is there a weekly paycheck that automatically kicks in?

These guys would still have expenses, like moving, rent, food etc, as soon as they leave college and move to St. louis

 

[snackdaddy]

So, do the drafted players not get any money from the Rams at all until they sign a contract or is there a weekly paycheck that automatically kicks in?

These guys would still have expenses, like moving, rent, food etc, as soon as they leave college and move to St. louis

I would imagine their agents help them out till they get their actual paychecks. I might be wrong, but I thought the monthly or bi-monthly paychecks were paid only during the season. Of course I would think signing bonuses are immediately paid.