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Jay-Z the agent already a threat; London is calling; more mail

No. They are unsigned players and thus free to miss any mandatory -- or voluntary -- event without discipline. This is the tradeoff of the franchise tag. For
Andrew Brandt|
Jay-Z the agent already a threat; London is calling; more mail
Jay-Z the agent already a threat; London is calling; more mail

No. They are unsigned players and thus free to miss any mandatory -- or voluntary -- event without discipline. This is the tradeoff of the franchise tag. For a team, it can take a player off of the free agent market and retain his rights. The player, meanwhile, makes a very large one-year salary, although without security of a longer term deal, and can show up when his salary kicks in at the start of the season in September. For Clady, his weekly game check will be substantial: $578,000. Thus, while he may be coy about showing up for camp, he'll be there when the real games are played. And Peyton Manning will exhale.

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Andrew Brandt
ANDREW BRANDT

Andrew Brandt is the executive director of the Moorad Center for the Study of Sports Law at Villanova University and a contributing writer at Sports Illustrated. He has written a "Business of Football" column for SI since 2013. Brandt also hosts a "The Business of Sports" podcast and publishes a weekly newsletter, "The Sunday Seven." After graduating from Stanford University and Georgetown Law School, he worked as a player-agent, representing NFL players such as Boomer Esiason, Matt Hasselbeck and Ricky Williams. In 1991, he became the first general manager of the World League's Barcelona Dragons. He later joined the Green Bay Packers, where he served as vice president and general counsel from 1999 to 2008, negotiating all player contracts and directing the team's football administration. He worked as a consultant with the Philadelphia Eagles and also has served as an NFL business analyst for ESPN.

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