Rep1 Sports, led by cousins Bruce and Ryan Tollner, is in a no-lose situation with the 2016 NFL Draft, which begins on Thursday. The Tollners will have the first-overall pick regardle s of the ' quarterback choice, because and are both Rep 1 clients. Barring an unforeseen turn of events, the Tollners will represent the first two players drafted, with Goff expected to be the Rams' choice and Wentz likely heading to the .Rep 1 has quickly become a major player in quarterback representation world. The Tollners negotiated a four-year, $87.4 million contract extension for with the early last offseason. At the time, the extension made Roethlisberger the NFL's second-highest-paid player by average yearly salary at $21.85 million per year. The deal also had the best three-year cash flow of any NFL contract at $65 million before subsequent extensions by , and .The Tollners have really made their mark in recent NFL drafts. Rep 1 has represented top quarterback prospects in each of the last two last years. went third overall to the in 2014 as the first quarterback taken. was selected second overall in last year's draft.Recruiting dynamicsAn agent representing the top two players at a position, particularly quarterback, let alone two of the top five players in a draft is unusual. Quarterbacks have been Washington Commanders Jersey the first two picks in the draft on five occasions since 1990. The following chart illustrates how rare it is. Top quarterbacks and their representationYearPickNameClubAgent20151Greg Genske/Kenny Felder20152Marcus MariotaRyan Tollner/Bruce Tollner/Chase Callahan20121Will Wilson20122Ben Dogra19991Tim CouchTom Condon19992Donovan McNabbEaglesFletcher Smith19993Akili SmithLeigh Steinberg19981Peyton ManningColtsTom Condon19982Ryan LeafChargersLeigh Steinberg19931Drew BledsoeLeigh Steinberg19932Rick MirerMarvin DemoffNone of the quarterbacks chose the same agent. In fact, the last time an agency represented the first two picks was 2009. Creative Artists Agency Football had ( ), whose primary agent was Tom Condon, while No. 2 pick Jason Smith's (Rams) primary agent was Ben Dogra.When I was still an agent, a recurring topic in meetings with prospective clients and their parents was the other prospects being recruited at the player's position. Most weren't comfortable with the idea of signing with us if we were going to also represent another main competitor at their position because it was perceived as a conflict of interest. In some cases, the concern was legitimate.There are cases where such a concern can be unfounded. For example, simultaneously representing (Mi si sippi) and (Notre Dame), top wide receiver prospects in this year's draft, wouldn't be problematic because they may not appeal to the same NFL teams due to their different strengths. Treadwell is a big wide receiver with great ball skills that lacks ideal speed. He ran the 40 yard dash in 4.63 second at his pro day. Fuller is an undersized vertical threat who has drawn comparisons to and . Goff and Wentz not fitting Antonio Gibson Jersey into the cla sic case of competitors during the recruiting proce s to be the first quarterback taken, like Peyton Manning and Ryan Leaf, may have worked to the Rep 1's advantage. Goff was viewed early on during the 2015 college football season as a potential high first-round pick if he decided to declare for the draft as an undercla sman. Wentz's senior season at North Dakota State against inferior competition was derailed by a broken right wrist that sidelined him for eight games until his return in the FCS Championship Game. An impre sive Senior Bowl, NFL combine and pro day workout helped raise Wentz's draft stock.Rep 1 was also in the mix with , who is regarded as the third-best quarterback prospect, according to other agents and a couple of teams with whom I spoke. Lynch signed with another agent, Leigh Steinberg, because he wasn't comfortable with having the same representation as Goff. Since Goff signed with the Tollners first, he had de facto veto power over the Wentz signing. If Goff had been uncomfortable with the idea of Wentz becoming a Rep 1 client, recruiting of Wentz likely would have stopped, out of fear of losing Goff to another agent with the prospect of another top quarterback draft candidate coming onboard.Negotiation challengesThe Rams are expected to sign the first-overall pick to a fully Joe Theismann Jersey guaranteed four-year contract in the neighborhood of $27.05 million with a signing bonus of almost $18 million. The second-overall pick is expected to get close to $25.85 million fully guaranteed with slightly le s than $17 million as signing bonus on a four-year contract from the Eagles. There are very few negotiable items with rookie contracts under the rookie wage scale implemented after the lockout in 2011, which has quickened the pace of signings and e sentially eliminated rookie holdouts. Each pick has a salary floor and ceiling based on draft position. All contracts are four years in length, but teams have an option for a fifth year with first-round picks that must be exercised after the third year of the deal.The primary negotiating i sue with the contracts for early first-round picks is whether the guarantees will have offsets. An offset clause allows a team to reduce the guaranteed money owed to a player when he is released by the amount of his new deal with another team. The player receives his salary from the team that released him in addition to the full salary from his new contract with another club when there isn't an offset (also known as Sam Howell Jersey "double dipping"). Practically speaking, the offset i sue will only come into play in the latter years of rookie deals if the player is a disappointment.Almost every team is now requiring offsets with salary guarantees for players taken near the top of the draft. As a compromise, teams are structuring deals containing minimum base salaries in the final three years with the remainder of a player's salary in annual roster bonuses that are fully guaranteed on the third or fifth day of training camp. The Tollners shouldn't have any problem reaching an agreement with the Rams because of an established team precedent of first-round picks receiving guarantees without offsets. This practice began with , the 14th pick in the 2011 draft. The policy has extended to , who was the 10th-overall pick in last year's draft.The Tollners' negotiations with the Eagles could be a different story. The Eagles are sensitive to offsets because of Nnamdi Asomugha's 2011 deal, which made him the NFL's highest-paid cornerback. $4 million of his 2013 base salary was Troy Apke Jersey fully guaranteed without an offset when he was released in March 2013 after he refused to a take a substantial pay cut. Asomugha collected the $4 million from the Eagles in addition to the almost $800,000 he made from the before being released eight games into the 2013 season. The Eagles haven't done a deal without an offset since parting ways with Asomugha.The Tollners will want both quarterbacks to be treated the same with the offset i sue. Compounding the problem is that the Tollners were able to get the to make conce sions to Marcus Mariota with offsets when their previous first-round picks under the rookie wage scale had them. He received training camp roster bonuses in the final three years of his deal totaling slightly more than $6.05 million without offsets, while the base salaries at his league minimums had offsets. Mariota was the last first-round pick to sign in 2015, with his contract being completed about 10 days before the start of training camp. It remains to be seen whether a dispute over offsets will produce the first rookie holdout since 2013. The Eagles plan on making 2016 a redshirt season for the No. 2 pick, which could decrease the urgency for either side to concede the i sue, since getting him ready to play in the season opener won't be a motivation to break a potential impa se.
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