Sam Darnold presumably followed the Jets’ first training camp practice Friday via his burner Twitter account, while his agent continued to senselessly leave him in limbo.
Darnold is one of the final two unsigned rookies in the 256-man 2018 draft class due to super-agent Jimmy Sexton’s selfishness.
The Jets and Sexton are at an impasse over language in Darnold’s fully guaranteed four-year deal for about $30 million (including a $20 million signing bonus). Holdouts have largely become a thing of the past under the NFL’s new rookie wage scale. Some agents, however, try to squeeze teams over “offsets” and, to a lesser degree, cash flow stemming from bonus payment structures.
Offsets provide teams with protection in case the player is cut within the first three years of the contract. It prevents a player from “double dipping,” or earning two paychecks from two teams after he’s cut by the team that drafted him. An offset allows the drafted team to deduct the player’s new salary from the amount that they were scheduled to pay him.
The Jets have had a long-standing policy to include offsets. It’s a smart organizational philosophy flowing from ownership that isn’t likely to change anytime soon.
So, know this: The Jets are 100 percent in the right in this case with Darnold.
There’s a clear difference between doing right by your client and using your client to enhance your future recruiting position. Sexton was privately fuming at top overall pick Baker Mayfield’s camp when he agreed to his rookie deal with the Browns that included offsets, because it weakened Sexton’s leverage, according to sources.
No. 7 overall pick Josh Allen, who is represented by the same agency as Darnold (CAA), but not Sexton, “made it known” to his reps that he didn’t want to miss any practices. He signed before the Bills’ first practice. Allen’s deal with Buffalo also includes offsets.
If the Jets agreed to a deal with no offset language, then the floodgates would open. It would set a precedent that would surely lead to every future Jets first-round pick holding out until they got the same provisions as Darnold. I’d be shocked if the Jets brass relents. Frankly, they shouldn’t.
Sexton isn’t doing right by Darnold even if that’s the story he’s feeding him. The Jets aren’t cutting a quarterback that they traded up to take with the No. 3 overall pick within the next three years. No, this is about ego and recruiting.
It’s a game within a game. If Sexton gets a deal with no offset language, he’ll use it as a recruiting tool in 2019 and beyond. It’s a feather in his cap that he can use to tell recruits (and their parents) that he can deliver, while (INSERT COMPETING AGENT HERE) cannot. Agents work in a cut-throat world.
Meanwhile, Darnold suffers. Sure, it’s not the end of the world that the quarterback missed the first practice even if it doesn’t exactly send the right message for a player who aspires to be a leader of this franchise for the next decade.
Perhaps the only fault on Darnold’s end is not being more assertive with his agent like Mayfield and Allen were by making it clear that missing a practice isn’t an option. We sometimes forget that agents work for players, not the other way around.
It’s not egregious that Darnold, who is staying a few minutes away from the team facility while his deal gets ironed out, wasn’t there on Friday. It’s disappointing, but all is hardly lost. It’ll be disappointing again if he misses Saturday’s practice.
The true line of demarcation will be Sunday for the first practice in pads. If Sexton is foolish enough to drag this out for 48 more hours, then it’ll become problematic. Why hold the kid hostage for your personal gain?
“I’ve played, I’ve coached, I’ve scouted. It’s part of the business,” Todd Bowles said about his annoyance level over a deal that could — and should — have been finalized at some point over the past three months. “It’s just another day at the office. There’s no animosity. It’s just the business part. When he comes in, we’ll get him caught up to speed and get him ready to go. Right now, we’re just coaching the 79 other guys. It’s not frustrating. I’m a coach. People get hurt. People go down. People get suspended. And there are contract situations. That has nothing to do with the team. I’m worried about the team.”
I’ve been told that Darnold wants to get back in the building badly and get to work.
“I saw him the other day,” Teddy Bridgewater said.
It’s actually pretty silly when you think about it. The player wants to play. The team wants the player to get as much exposure as possible to properly evaluate his readiness for the season opener in six weeks.
“From a learning standpoint, you want to be here as soon as possible,” Josh McCown said. “There’s no substitute for being here. The walk-throughs in the morning when so much teaching takes place and just these practices, where you can get reps. So obviously there’s no substitute for it. It’s just part of this business. You deal with it and move on…. When he gets here, he gets here. We’ll welcome him and get rolling. But until then, Teddy and I will hold it down.”
Sexton is one of the best at his profession. He has crafted landmark deals for a quarter century for everyone from Reggie White to Ndamukong Suh. He’s a master bluffer, who once instructed Packers free-agent offensive lineman Chad Clifton to fly to a city of a team that wanted to sign him, check into a hotel, sit there and just wait. Green Bay got scared and ponied up more money. Clifton checked out of the hotel a much richer man.
This time it’s not about money. It’s about a recruiting tool that has nothing to do with Sam Darnold.
It’s time for Sexton to actually do right by his client and get him on the practice field.
Darnold is one of the final two unsigned rookies in the 256-man 2018 draft class due to super-agent Jimmy Sexton’s selfishness.
The Jets and Sexton are at an impasse over language in Darnold’s fully guaranteed four-year deal for about $30 million (including a $20 million signing bonus). Holdouts have largely become a thing of the past under the NFL’s new rookie wage scale. Some agents, however, try to squeeze teams over “offsets” and, to a lesser degree, cash flow stemming from bonus payment structures.
Offsets provide teams with protection in case the player is cut within the first three years of the contract. It prevents a player from “double dipping,” or earning two paychecks from two teams after he’s cut by the team that drafted him. An offset allows the drafted team to deduct the player’s new salary from the amount that they were scheduled to pay him.
The Jets have had a long-standing policy to include offsets. It’s a smart organizational philosophy flowing from ownership that isn’t likely to change anytime soon.
So, know this: The Jets are 100 percent in the right in this case with Darnold.
There’s a clear difference between doing right by your client and using your client to enhance your future recruiting position. Sexton was privately fuming at top overall pick Baker Mayfield’s camp when he agreed to his rookie deal with the Browns that included offsets, because it weakened Sexton’s leverage, according to sources.
No. 7 overall pick Josh Allen, who is represented by the same agency as Darnold (CAA), but not Sexton, “made it known” to his reps that he didn’t want to miss any practices. He signed before the Bills’ first practice. Allen’s deal with Buffalo also includes offsets.
If the Jets agreed to a deal with no offset language, then the floodgates would open. It would set a precedent that would surely lead to every future Jets first-round pick holding out until they got the same provisions as Darnold. I’d be shocked if the Jets brass relents. Frankly, they shouldn’t.
Sexton isn’t doing right by Darnold even if that’s the story he’s feeding him. The Jets aren’t cutting a quarterback that they traded up to take with the No. 3 overall pick within the next three years. No, this is about ego and recruiting.
It’s a game within a game. If Sexton gets a deal with no offset language, he’ll use it as a recruiting tool in 2019 and beyond. It’s a feather in his cap that he can use to tell recruits (and their parents) that he can deliver, while (INSERT COMPETING AGENT HERE) cannot. Agents work in a cut-throat world.
Meanwhile, Darnold suffers. Sure, it’s not the end of the world that the quarterback missed the first practice even if it doesn’t exactly send the right message for a player who aspires to be a leader of this franchise for the next decade.
Perhaps the only fault on Darnold’s end is not being more assertive with his agent like Mayfield and Allen were by making it clear that missing a practice isn’t an option. We sometimes forget that agents work for players, not the other way around.
It’s not egregious that Darnold, who is staying a few minutes away from the team facility while his deal gets ironed out, wasn’t there on Friday. It’s disappointing, but all is hardly lost. It’ll be disappointing again if he misses Saturday’s practice.
The true line of demarcation will be Sunday for the first practice in pads. If Sexton is foolish enough to drag this out for 48 more hours, then it’ll become problematic. Why hold the kid hostage for your personal gain?
“I’ve played, I’ve coached, I’ve scouted. It’s part of the business,” Todd Bowles said about his annoyance level over a deal that could — and should — have been finalized at some point over the past three months. “It’s just another day at the office. There’s no animosity. It’s just the business part. When he comes in, we’ll get him caught up to speed and get him ready to go. Right now, we’re just coaching the 79 other guys. It’s not frustrating. I’m a coach. People get hurt. People go down. People get suspended. And there are contract situations. That has nothing to do with the team. I’m worried about the team.”
I’ve been told that Darnold wants to get back in the building badly and get to work.
“I saw him the other day,” Teddy Bridgewater said.
It’s actually pretty silly when you think about it. The player wants to play. The team wants the player to get as much exposure as possible to properly evaluate his readiness for the season opener in six weeks.
“From a learning standpoint, you want to be here as soon as possible,” Josh McCown said. “There’s no substitute for being here. The walk-throughs in the morning when so much teaching takes place and just these practices, where you can get reps. So obviously there’s no substitute for it. It’s just part of this business. You deal with it and move on…. When he gets here, he gets here. We’ll welcome him and get rolling. But until then, Teddy and I will hold it down.”
Sexton is one of the best at his profession. He has crafted landmark deals for a quarter century for everyone from Reggie White to Ndamukong Suh. He’s a master bluffer, who once instructed Packers free-agent offensive lineman Chad Clifton to fly to a city of a team that wanted to sign him, check into a hotel, sit there and just wait. Green Bay got scared and ponied up more money. Clifton checked out of the hotel a much richer man.
This time it’s not about money. It’s about a recruiting tool that has nothing to do with Sam Darnold.
It’s time for Sexton to actually do right by his client and get him on the practice field.
