In this segment of The CJ Moneyway Show, host Andreas and speaker B discuss whether professional athletes should hire agents or negotiate contracts themselves. Andreas argues that a competent agent, even at a typical 3% commission on large contracts (e.g., $250 million), is worth the cost because they alleviate the psychological burden of high‑stakes negotiations, provide auxiliary services such as insurance, PR, sponsorship acquisition, and financial advisory, and leverage established relationships with general managers to secure better terms. He notes that self‑negotiation can be mentally taxing, especially when large sums and multigenerational wealth are at stake, and that agents can more confidently make large asks without appearing greedy. The conversation also touches on the importance of an agent’s network, the impact on locker‑room dynamics, and the potential for agents to grow the overall value pie through additional deals and support. While acknowledging that not all agents are equal, the speakers conclude that a good agent adds significant value beyond the commission, and that athletes should assess agent quality rather than dismiss representation outright.
Chapters
He's gonna get every penny no matter what happens, but that's something else to be aware of.
Hey, so I, I just got one more question because this, this kind of interesting to me. So, so say like you got agents, like you said, like with Ron, and you know, I know Scott and people of that nature, you know, high, high-level agents, and they get these big dollar deals. Is it— so say like somebody like Lamar Jackson that represented himself, or like the guy that just came to Chicago, or you know, they represent theyself. Is it better to represent yourself in circumstances, or is it better to hire you an agent that's gonna go in there and negotiate with the team on your behalf? Because I know it could be a conflict, you know, how you here with the player, because, you know, you playing and now you got to negotiate with them and they telling you things that you probably really don't want to hear. And, you know, so how do that really work? Just from your insight.
Yeah, so I, I would say the way I always answer this question, I think it's a really interesting one, is that in my opinion, an agent in almost any place— an agent to buy a house and certainly a sports agent to represent you— if they are very good at your job, they're worth every penny, right? So just to simplify, let's say that an agent is making 3% of your deal, and yeah, $250 million deal, that is a lot of money. But here's the thing. If you think about all that they do, if they're very good at what they do, I'll give you an example. Number one, you're a player and you're negotiating your own deal. The psychological toll it takes for the weeks, months, or longer that it takes while you're negotiating, it's impossible for it not to. Let's say you made $20 million in your lifetime or $10 million and you're about to sign a $250 million deal. That's one is wealth. The next one is multigenerational wealth beyond, you know, that is a 10x multiple increase. So it is, of course it's going to affect you mentally. Now some thrive under the pressure, some, you know, are able to manage it, some, but some it can make them, you know, give it just too much pressure. And so I think, I think that's number one. And then you get number two, all the auxiliary advice. For example, you can get insurance, and an agent would know that. And you can, you know, there's— and all the negotiations of a playing time and adjustment. Maybe you lower preseason work because, you know, you, you don't want to get injured, but you do it in a way that you're not holding out of camp, and so you can be managed. And the third is If you think about this for anybody, you know, CJ, if I told you I need you to go get me $100 million, you would be able to do that with a lot more confidence than if I told you go get yourself $100 million, right? It's a lot easier because you don't feel like you're being greedy. I mean, you're, you're representing me, I'm the best of the best, and you know, you could explain it away. And it's a lot easier for you to make the ask than it is for yourself because it's hard for you to make that big ask. You sound greedy, you feel greedy. And so what happens is For those 3 reasons, in my opinion— now there's, you know, like anything else, any profession, there's good doctors and bad, good engineers and bad— but in my opinion, a very good agent, from all the experience I've had on the agent side and the team side, is absolutely worth their commission. And if they're not worth your commission, then I think you just need a better agent more than I would— I think I would represent myself personally.
Yeah, I, I think that's kind of, kind of hard, but you know, some people, some people do it. I know that you know, when you do that, you, you put people around you like family and things of that nature. So I know that it probably can be, like you say, mentally, you know, a little more difficult or, you know, different than— like you said, I think you made a good point. You said if I ask, uh, Andreas, hey Andreas, go out there and get me a $150 million contract, and then— or me said to myself, let me go out here and $150 million contract. You know, I think I'd be better off asking you to go do this, speak on my behalf, because I know if I'm a football player and you're an agent and this is what you do, and so there's more things in life that you know about this profession that I don't know, you know what I'm saying? Like, it's a lot of loopholes.
I love that. And the relationships too. I mean, people don't, you know, you don't want to admit to that, but the reality is if I'm very good friends with your GM, And we've made some really good deals before that were fair, that were great for the player and good for the team. Right. We, we worked the structure out so it gave them flexibility, but we still got the player a ton of money. That's worth a lot because under pressure and when you're dealing with $200 million, $300 million, $400 million, there's a lot of pressure that goes a long way. And so, you know, I love what you said there because that's the other piece too. Those relationships matter. And so it's difficult. And then there's a locker room impact. And I mean, it's a lot there. So I don't want to say, you know, I don't think they're greedy for doing it. And I love the fact that they're being thoughtful about how to capture every dollar. But the way I would describe it is this: adding an agent, if they're good, is growing the pie. I think they're able to get you more, and not only in dollars, but they may be able to get you more in the sense that, for example, that same agent could help, you know, shape your PR a little bit so that negotiation maybe isn't as negative. And so now you can get another sponsorship deal that you wouldn't have gotten that makes up for some of the money. And they could also potentially help you get insurance, and they could potentially, you know, like, and they help connect you with a financial advisor that can make you a lot more money, you you know, and that can, you know, that's trustworthy. And so there's a lot of those things. And I think the noise— it really caught my attention, you said— is I don't think anyone understands how much noise these athletes have. I can't tell you how many people are around them all the time, some good, some neutral, and some bad. And it is unbelievable the pressure they face. I mean, I think if anyone faced that, they would be a heck of a lot more empathetic. Like, people just think, oh, look at this player, he's being so greedy, he wants $28 million, not $30 You telling me that 28 million isn't good enough?
