Bobby Wagner isn’t like most NFL players. He doesn’t have an agent, which means he represents himself, negotiates his own contracts and handles the business side of everything that comes with being a professional athlete.
And as his own agent, Wagner has gotten to see parts of the NFL that many other players have not. He hopes to someday turn that experience into a role as present of a team.
That’s what he told CNBC in an interview about his five-year deal with the Rams, which he negotiated himself.
In addition, Wagner said he was able to create more relationships with NFL team executives and learn more about the business of football. The goal here is positioning himself as a future team president.
Wagner would be one of the few Black team presidents in NFL history if he reached that goal.
Wagner says players “get stuck in our bubble” and think that “the world is a certain way.” But by being his own agent, Wagner has the experience of not only knowing what it takes to win as a player, but what goes on with the business side of the NFL.
“That’s the box people put you in,” he said. “I’m not saying anything is wrong with that, but that’s the box we get put in. They put us in this box where we can’t be a president or CEO, and it’s like, ‘Why can’t I if I understand the business?’
“If I start where I started, understand the business, and understand what happens in the locker room, to me, that makes me more valuable.”
Wagner is not only one of the smartest players on the field, but he’s also one of the most educated off it. Not every player is capable of representing himself at the table when negotiating contracts, which in the NFL are intricate, multi-layered and not always clear-cut.
Richard Sherman has taken that approach in his career, too, opting to go without an agent. Sherman has said in the past that he would like to manage a team someday, something that shouldn’t surprise anyone.
