Arizona Cardinals star cornerback Patrick Peterson is set to become a rich man this off-season, and maybe he felt like he needed the proper representation to secure Darrelle Revis type money.
Yahoo Sports is reporting that Peterson fired his agent, Patrick Lawlor, and the agent is crying foul.
Peterson fired agent Patrick Lawlor on Monday night, a few months before Peterson is expected to begin negotiating an extension with the Arizona Cardinals that could see him get as much as $50 million guaranteed, making him the highest-paid defensive player in the NFL.
Lawlor blasted the NFLPA for allowing agents to poach players from other agents.
“The NFLPA refuses to address [client poaching] and it’s disgusting,” Lawlor said. “No agent out there is willing to talk about it because they’re afraid of pissing off the NFLPA or somehow upsetting their existing clients. Well, I’m tired of that. They need to address it. A little guy like me can’t compete with these large agencies who are putting these massive marketing guarantees out there. It’s a hidden little rule and it’s disgusting.”
“Do I believe whoever signs [Peterson] offered him a financial inducement to sign him? Yes,” Lawlor said. “Only time will tell. But that has been the trend that has been going on where these agents have been stealing clients from other agents by offering them ‘marketing guarantees.’ It’s completely preposterous. It’s gotten out of hand but the NFLPA totally disregards it. They don’t see it as some type of inducement when it absolutely is. They say in their rules and regulations that you can’t provide compensation to players to lure them in as clients, and yet it happens all the time.”
Rough break for Lawlor.