Four years vs. five became a key factor in Tua Tagovailoa, Jordan Love deals

When it comes to evaluating contracts, money becomes a major factor. Duration is becoming more important, too.

Teams prefer longer-term contracts, giving them the benefit of controlling a player’s rights (if they choose to do so) well beyond the guaranteed years of the deal, typically one or two or three seasons.

For players with one year left on their contracts, teams usually want a five-year extension, giving them six years of dibs. It delays the moment at which the player would be able to get to market and/or force an extension. For both Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and Packers quarterback Jordan Love, the goal for the players was to keep the extension to four years.

Both succeeded. Aiding the effort was the fact that they were represented by the same firm, Athletes First. On behalf of Tua and Love, the agency maximized the bargaining power and leverage, getting each team to agree to four years, not five, as the number of new years.

The agents surely coordinated the approach. They might have told the Dolphins that the Packers are doing four years with Love, and they could have told the Packers that the Dolphins are doing four years with Tua. If that’s how it went, it worked.

It’s another reason why agents should work together when negotiating deals — even when those agents work for different firms. It’s about setting aside competition and ego and getting the best outcome for the players.

Teams aren’t allowed to collude when it comes to contracts, but they often do. Players are, but they usually don’t. The Love and Tua deals show how working together can help both players, getting both of them four-year extensions and, in turn, getting both to the market before turning 31.

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/four-years-vs-five-became-141657696.html

Author : ProFootball Talk on NBC Sports

Publish date : 2024-07-27 14:16:57

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