Potential No. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams will enter the NFL without an agent.
According to Pro Football Talk, the USC quarterback and 2022 Heisman Trophy winner has not hired an agent and does not plan to do so.
If Williams goes without an agent, he’d follow in the footsteps of Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson — a 2018 first-round pick — who signed a five-year, $260 million extension last offseason.
Mike Florio of PFT weighed in on why the negatives of Williams going without an agent:
The risk for Williams comes from the reality that the agents who represent other high-end quarterbacks might (or will) spend the next two months trying to get teams to take their clients instead of Williams. It can get nasty. It can get ugly. It can get dirty. Negativity will be spread about Williams, and he won’t have a connected agent to push back aggressively, with teams and/or media.
Likewise, Williams will not have the opportunity to fight fire with fire, as an agent works on his behalf to launch the same kind of attacks on other players that other agents will launch on him. (Even if the player isn’t aware what his agent is doing.)
All good points here. Everyone knows the slander directed at draft-eligible prospects at this time every year that comes from “anonymous sources.” While those sources remain confidential, Florio makes a good point that it’s often the agents of other players trying to help their clients. Often, the pre-draft slander is much ado about nothing.
Why would Williams opt against having an agent? He’s expected to be the No. 1 pick, and rookie contracts are slotted. There aren’t any actual negotiations whether he goes No. 1 or 2.
Williams’ hometown Washington Commanders pick No. 2 behind the Chicago Bears.
