ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Led by Tom Condon and Jimmy Sexton, CAA is arguably the most powerful agency in the NFL.
But they still work for the player.
Drew Lock has Condon, Sexton and Tom Condon Jr. as his agents but as his negotiations stalled on the eve of training camp, the Broncos’ second-round quarterback stepped up and took charge.
"I told my agency beforehand that if it got to the point where I was missing practice, there was no chance we were going to go on with it," Lock said after he did sign his contract and participate in the Broncos’ first training camp practice Thursday morning.
"I was going to sign the deal and I was going to get here because the most important thing is getting out here. I missed the conditioning test, which I made up after practice. But missing anything else would have been not who I am."
At one point, Lock’s agents were asking for a "quarterback premium." That presented a ripple effect because it would have meant he would have been paid more as the No. 42 overall draft pick than teammate and left guard Dalton Risner would have got at No. 41. For a few minutes on Monday, it appeared both Lock and Risner would hold out.
Neither did. Lock got the same workout bonus sweetener as Risner, but not a quarterback premium, in part because Lock cut off negotiations.
Risner’s four-year contract was for $7,142,282 that included a $3,214,388 signing bonus – a tad more than the Lock’s four-year total value of $7,010,819 that included a $3,118,776 bonus.
"I’m sure Tommy, Tom and Jimmy all have a really good idea what a quarterback premium was," Lock said of his agents. "I’m not 100 percent sure what a quarterback premium was but that’s what they were talking about. For me to get to the point where it was time for me to come practice, the quarterback premium I didn’t know much about went out the window because I needed to be out here."
Lock opened camp as he finished the offseason program – as the No. 3 quarterback behind veterans Joe Flacco and Kevin Hogan. Lock and Hogan will compete for the No. 2 role.
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