NFL agents are their clients’ best advocates.
They put players in an atmosphere where they could succeed while negotiating for the highest amount possible.
They will also reap financial rewards if their client signs a huge contract.
For that reason, agents try to boost the value of their clients, especially if they will be selected in the rookie draft.
There’s a huge discrepancy between the contracts offered to first-round draftees and those selected in succeeding rounds.
Likewise, first-round draftees could also get a fifth-year option worth guaranteed money.
In that case, Drew Rosenhaus must have sent a press release to ESPN’s NFL insider Adam Schefter regarding one of his clients.
Each year, unexpected players sneak into round one. One possibility this year is USC pass rusher Drake Jackson, whose agent Drew Rosenhaus said that “multiple teams” predicted to him Wednesday that Jackson – who had 15 top 30 visits – “would be a surprise first-round pick.”
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 28, 2022
Schefter tweeted, “Each year, unexpected players sneak into round one. One possibility this year is USC pass rusher Drake Jackson.”
The insider also shared Rosenhaus’s statement that “multiple teams” predicted Jackson could be a surprise first-round pick.
Either Rosenhaus knows that Jackson’s name will be called in the first round, or he’s campaigning for his guy.
The ploy could work if a team seeks a defensive end late in round one.
A Highly Unheralded Defensive End
Undoubtedly, this year’s class for defensive ends is deep.
Georgia’s Travon Walker and Michigan’s Aidan Hutchinson are the final candidates for the number one pick.
There’s also Purdue’s George Karlaftis, Oregon’s Kayvon Thibodeaux, and Florida State’s Jermaine Johnson.
Pro Football Focus projects Jackson as the eighth-best defensive end prospect in the 2022 draft.
He finished his final season at USC with 23 solo tackles and five sacks.
Unfortunately, a late-season injury might discourage teams from taking him.
But with pressuring the quarterback being an essential aspect of a team’s success, there might be a team that will take a flyer on him in round one.
NEXT: Giants GM Not Focused On A Specific Position In The Draft