Drew Rosenhaus, owner of Miami-based sports agency Rosenhaus Sports, has already negotiated more than $7 billion in NFL contracts over the past three decades in the business.
Now, with the growth of name, image and likeness (NIL) in college football, as well as pending revenue-sharing with student-athletes stemming from the House vs. NCAA case, Rosenhaus and his agency are officially all-in on the collegiate ranks. Not that it’s a perfect system, of course.
During Thursday’s episode of The Pat McAfee Show, Rosenhaus explained how his agency has evolved amid college football’s changing landscape in the age of NIL and the transfer portal, and even proposed potential ways to further regulate the sport moving forward.
“It’s so different from when we recruited you guys. We started recruiting guys out of college their junior or senior years, now we’ve got to start with high school guys,” Rosenhaus explained. “Mason Graham is a great football player that we signed this year and started representing Mason as a freshman at the University of Michigan. He’ll be a top (NFL Draft pick). … Just NIL when we started and when his season ended he hired us to represent him in the draft.
“Look, (NIL contracts) are year-to-year. So players right now are professional football players in college, and they get a new contract every year. There is free agency every year. There is no salary cap. There are no rules. The ability to transfer is almost unlimited. Guys getting paid coming out of high school. I love it. I’m for the players. I love it.”
Still, when McAfee suggested the NCAA needs a standardized system to address many of the issues currently plaguing college football, Rosenhaus wholeheartedly agreed.
“Absolutely. In any system we need structure. Every other professional league has rules,” Rosenhaus said. “(The NFL has) a cap, we have a structure, we have a draft order, we have waivers, we have trade deadlines. This doesn’t exist in college football. So it is very chaotic.”
Atleast some of that chaos could be nearing an end with the expected arrival of revenue-sharing, with Power programs projected to receive approximately $20.5 million annually from the NCAA to distribute among their student-athletes. That should also allow for a more professional system that could develop greater information-sharing between agents, athletes, schools and outside NIL collectives.
“Let’s have transparency, let’s know what guys are being paid, what the schools are working with,” Rosenhaus concluded. “I think transparency is huge and sharing information is a big deal. … There’s a lot of issues. Let’s do it the right way. Let’s have legit contracts, let’s know what everybody is making, and let’s work for the players and colleges and make it a good system for everyone.”
Notre Dame defeats Penn State in Orange Bowl, will compete for national titleUSA TODAY Sports' Mackenzie Salmon discusses Notre Dame's win over Penn State in th
VIDEO: Experience Penn State football's White Out game atmospherePenn State football's White Out game has become one of college football's top traditions. Our v
For the first time since 2012, Notre Dame football will play for the national championship.The No. 7 Fighting Irish emerged with a thrilling 27-24 victory over
Bleacher ReportNotre Dame is moving onto the national championship after defeating Penn State 27-24.Fighting Irish cornerback Christian Gray intercepted Penn St