Caleb Williams is going it alone.
The list of draft-eligible players and their agents, published by the NFL Players Association on Wednesday, does not include the former USC quarterback. After sending a couple of texts, we’ve confirmed that Williams has not hired an agent — and he apparently does not plan to do so.
Multiple players have opted in recent years to represent themselves. Some have managed to do very good deals on their own (like Bobby Wagner). Others have not. Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, whose long-term deal was delayed by the fact that he was handling his own contract, ultimately got a great deal from the Ravens. (He arguably could have done even better if he had a skilled agent pestering other teams to try to sign him to an offer sheet last year.)
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.)
It might not matter, since Williams is widely believed to be the presumptive No. 1 overall pick in the draft. We’ll see if that holds over the next two months.
And, yes, that might be one of the reasons why Jackson, a two-time MVP, fell all the way to No. 32 in 2018. He didn’t have anyone to defend him against the “he should play receiver” bullshit that some were spewing. And, as a result, he went 22 spots after (checks notes and shakes head in disbelief) Josh Rosen.
