Last year, after the NFL slammed the door on giving equity to players or other team employees, multiple sources shared spontaneously with PFT a pair of interesting facts. One, quarterback Aaron Rodgers had sought securing a slice of ownership in contract talkes the Jets. Two, in conversations with prospective agents, Caleb Williams’s camp had made it known that equity would be one of the requests if/when he left USC for the draft.
It was irrelevant at that point, because the league had passed a rule preventing individual franchises from giving equity to players and non-players alike.
Since then, we’ve seen periodic claims of “fan fiction” or whatever as it relates to Williams, with the contention that we were trying to make him look bad. The reality is that we were trying to illustrate that equity should be on the table, that multiple players recently asked about equity, and that the league is quite possibly running afoul of federal antitrust laws by coming together and ordering 32 independent businesses not to do it.
This week, two interesting things happened on that front. First, Kalyn Kahler of TheAthletic.com reported that it happened: “two sources told The Athletic that Williams’ camp did, in fact, discuss the topic with agents.”
Second, we met Caleb Williams. Chris Simms and I had a chance to sit down and talk to him on camera, for about 10 minutes. We both were already impressed by what he does on the field (Simms says Williams is clearly the top quarterback in this draft class). We were blown away by talking to him.
He’s very mature. He gets it. He understands what it takes to perfect his craft. He will be fully committed to the team that gets him. He will be a natural leader, one that holds players accountable with his words and actions. Combine that with his skills, and Caleb Williams is poised to become one of the best players in the NFL.
Why shouldn’t an employee like that — who will have that kind of value to a business — want a piece of ownership? Williams was absolutely right to inquire about. If I was his father or uncle or agent or friend or whatever, I would have told him to do it, too.
But the oligarchs were determined to install a firewall, separating “us” from “them” and freezing players out of the one thing that keeps going up and up and up in value.
Williams should want it. Patrick Mahomes should already have it. Josh Allen should have it. Teams want quarterbacks to act like extensions of management — until it’s time to treat them that way. Usually, they use the salary cap to keep them from being “selfish” about getting full value for what they bring to a team. Last year, they plugged the donut hole that could have more properly rewarded the best players in football for what they do.
Hopefully, someone will challenge the “no equity” rule. Whether it’s a player who makes the request and is told no and then files a collusion grievance or whether it’s a coach or other employee who asks for it in negotiations and doesn’t get it, someone needs to stand up and fight back against a rule that seems to be illegal on its face.
These are 32 independent businesses, as confirmed by the landmark American Needle case in 2010. They get away with a host of antitrust violations because the Collective Bargaining Agreement with the union allows it. The CBA does not prevent compensating players with equity. Because the league has come together and told all 32 teams to not do it, it walks, talks, and quacks like collusion as to the members of the NFL Players Association and it walks, talks, and quacks like an antitrust violation as to everyone else on the payroll.
