Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Pasquarelli: Lockout makes signability big concern

Last week, the Tampa Bay Bucs confirmed their personnel department has been e-mailing player agents to solicit feedback on the possible slot-ranges where their clients might be drafted.

The unusual method permits the Tampa Bay staff another useful metric in cross-checking its own in-house assessments of players and to identify possible areas of disparity in prospect evaluation. But there is another agent-prospect dynamic, several franchises have told The Sports Xchange, that is garnering increased attention lately because of the ongoing lockout and its ramifications.

The concept of "signability" has long been a component of the NFL Draft. This year, though, it has taken on added significance.

Although some personnel directors and general managers conceded they harbored reservations about a prospect based on his agent, they allowed that representation rarely has affected choices, particularly in the mid- to late rounds. And that likely will be the case again in the 2011 draft. But the possibility that the lockout will preclude franchises from signing prospects before the summer -- and that contract negotiations might not even be permitted until a few weeks before training camps open -- adds another layer of intrigue to the lottery.

How much concern: Franchises routinely compile lists of what agents represent what players in a draft. But several clubs contacted by The Sports Xchange this week acknowledged that they have worked harder and more diligently linking prospects, particularly those who figure to be selected in the first two rounds, with the men who will negotiate their first NFL contracts.

Three of the teams allowed they have disseminated the lists to their personnel departments, at least one of them for the first time. During player interviews at the combine, teams were increasingly interested in identifying prospects' agents. The initiative has continued in players' visits to franchise headquarters.

And it's more than simple curiosity, it seems.

Beyond just the pairing of players and agents, a few teams, with time on their hands because of the lockout, have compiled extensive background details on the track records of agents who are more likely to hold a player out of camp. The information isn't apt to affect choices at the top of the draft, but could provide clubs some pause in situations where player evaluations are close. The information could perhaps add another variable in parsing similarly graded prospects.

"In any year," said the personnel director of an AFC team, "you want your guys in camp on time. This year, that might be [especially crucial. I can't honestly say that our team ever bypassed [a player] because of the agent involved. We've pretty much operated under the assumption that, no matter how big a [bad guy] the agent is, the player is going to be here. But because of the circumstances, it's definitely a part of the equation this year."

League teams are always cognizant of the "signability" element, and wary of agents with reputations for prolonged negotiations, but it has been a much larger factor in baseball in recent years. But in yet another lockout-year phenomena, franchises are more aware of the factor this spring.


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