FAB 2. NEGOTIATING WITH GREENBERG FROM AN AGENT’S PERSPECTIVE
March is not only Jason Licht time in Tampa Bay, it’s also the time when Bucs director of football administration Mike Greenberg, who is Licht’s trusted sidekick in the front office, gets his time to shine. Greenberg is the Bucs’ capologist and oftentimes the lead negotiator with agents of the players the Bucs want to sign and re-sign.

Greenberg, who is one of the best, brightest and young front office minds in the NFL, joined the Bucs in 2010 as a pro personnel assistant under former general manager Mark Dominik. The next year, Greenberg transitioned into his current role and handles the team’s salary cap, contract negotiations, CBA compliance, in addition to the Bucs’ financial and strategic planning. Greenberg oversees the budgeting for all football operations, including the coaching, scouting, video, athletic training, equipment, strength and conditioning and player development departments.

Bucs GM Jason Licht, director of football administration Mike Greenberg and director of football operations Shelton Quarles – Photo courtesy of the Buccaneers

Licht thought so highly of Greenberg after working with him in 2014 that he retained him. The two make a dynamic duo when it comes to signing free agents and re-signing the team’s own stars, including defensive tackle Gerald McCoy, linebacker Lavonte David, and most recently, running back Doug Martin.

Greenberg, who is only 31, often takes the lead in contract negotiations with agents unless Licht has a longer and better relationship with a particular agent. After all, deal-making is a relationship business.

So what it is like negotiating with Greenberg, who is one of those guys who is always smiling and is always friendly?

Last week I told you how Greenberg’s innovative system has kept the Bucs out of salary cap hell. But I wanted to find out what it was like for an agent to pick up the phone and hammer out a deal with Greenberg, so I called a few. First up was Brian Levy, who I’ve known for years. He represents several NFL coaches, including Pittsburgh’s head coach Mike Tomlin, Atlanta wide receivers coach and former Tampa Bay head coach Raheem Morris, and Atlanta’s Dan Quinn. Levy also represents Bucs defensive end George Johnson, and has known Greenberg for years.

“Mike contains two things that are critical for someone in that chair,” Levy said. “The first is that he understands personnel and the value of personnel. And second, he understands that in any fair negotiation both sides need to come away feeling a little unhappy at the end.

“Mike is someone who will not start negotiations out at a ridiculously low number with an agent, which causes a delay in the negotiations where now the agent has to come back and give a ridiculously high number, figuring they will meet somewhere in the middle. Mike is more realistic as far as what the goal of the negotiation is before you start. When you start negotiations with Mike he comes at you right away with his numbers right out of the gate and the attitude of seeing if we can get this deal done quickly. A lot of teams that you deal with from time to time will try to lowball you and hope that you don’t have any leverage because you don’t have any other options. He understands that there is value to both sides in getting a deal done quickly. The guys that Mike has targeted he’s usually been able to do that.”

NFL agent Brian Levy

Before negotiations start, Greenberg and Licht will set the monetary value limits for certain positions on the Bucs roster. They have a line that rarely gets cross when it comes to paying players based on the value system Greenberg and Licht have constructed. The Bucs held firm to not paying Martin more than an average of $7 million per year during negotiations last year until the eleventh hour before striking a deal that averages $7.15 million per year.

Greenberg and the agents he’s dealing with will come armed with comps – otherwise known as contracts for comparable players.

If Russell Shepard’s agent were to bring a comp to the table for a reserve wide receiver that is a special teams star, in the $3.5 million per year range, Greenberg would counter and say that the comp isn’t valid because said player returns punts and that is an added value that Shepard doesn’t possess.

Instead, he might use New England’s Matthew Slater as a comp in the $1.8 million to $2 million range for Shepard in this example, and Greenberg would note Slater doesn’t return punts so it’s a truer comp and closer to what Shepard might be worth in average annual salary.

“In any negotiation both sides are going to have fair comps,” Levy said. “But what’s fair to one side is not always fair to another. He’s going to bring his comps to the table and then, as an agent, you’re going to be able to respond to that and say, ‘That’s fair, but what about these players?’ You’re going to say that the guys he brings to the table are underpaid and he’s going to say the guys you’re bringing to the table in negotiations might have been a little bit overpaid.

“When that does happen, rather than make it a contentious negotiation, Mike has the ability to take away some of the angst in the process and start to move to the middle. He’s also willing to listen to reason. He doesn’t always necessarily agree with it, but it doesn’t get contentious. You have a great deal of respect for him because you know he knows the market.”

Greenberg knows every player in the NFL, the specific value they bring to their teams and what their contracts consist of. There is no fooling Greenberg, who graduated with honors from Cornell in 2007 with a Bachelor of Science degree in policy analysis and management, and a Juris Doctor from Hofstra University School of Law in 2010.

“You’re not going to come at him and insult him with a terribly high counter offer, either,” Levy said. “If you have a guy that has averaged three sacks per year over the last three years and you want him to be paid commensurate to what a perennial Pro Bowl defensive end makes – that’s not going to happen. That doesn’t help either side.”

Bucs DE George Johnson – Photo by: Getty Images

Greenberg approached Levy about signing Johnson, who started his career in Tampa Bay in 2011, to an offer sheet when he was a restricted free agent with Detroit in 2014. Johnson had recorded the first six sacks of his career with the Lions as a reserve in 2014. In the 2015 offseason, the Bucs signed him to a three-year, $7 million deal.

“With George it was clear that they were going to bring us a restricted free agent offer sheet,” Levy said. “We proceeded accordingly and aggressively. Had that not been the case … there’s only so much you can dance in this business before you have to pull the trigger and the Bucs pulled the trigger. There’s no waiting around and wondering with Mike, and that’s a good thing.

“You have an idea of what the market value is for your guy and you’re going to get it regardless of who you are going to be negotiating with. But the thing with Mike is that whether you come to an understanding or not, it never becomes contentious. A lot of teams tend to take negotiations personally, and that’s a mistake for both sides. Agents can take it personally as well. The best deals are the ones down between parties that have mutual respect for one another’s position. You try to get that across early in the process. With Mike, you have to put your cards on the table early, and he’ll tell you straight up, ‘Looks like we can reach an agreement,’ or ‘With where you guys are at right now I don’t think there is any way we’re going to get a deal done.’ That’s great because I would rather know that Day 1 then drag the process out and me think that the Bucs are going to bring him in for a visit and get something done over time.”

Johnson’s deal included $2.75 million in guaranteed money with Greenberg’s trademark structuring that was outlined in last week’s SR’s Fab 5. That meant a $750,000 base salary that was guaranteed, in addition to a $2 million roster bonus instead of a signing bonus that would be prorated over the life of the contract and could result in dead salary cap space if Johnson was released before his deal was up.

“If your cap can tolerate that kind of a deal that’s wonderful,” Levy said. “Obviously you don’t want to hide money in later years and have to constantly renegotiate those deals or extend players and the Bucs don’t have to do that any more because of the way Mike handles the cap.”

Bucs QB Jameis Winston & GM Jason Licht – Photo courtesy of the Buccaneers

Greenberg and Licht spent months working on long-term deals for McCoy and David, but less than a day on quarterback Jameis Winston’s deal, which was one of the more complex contracts Greenberg has done. One challenge was the fact that Winston was drafted at 8:00 p.m. ET and he, Licht, and the quarterback’s agent, Greg Genske, decided to stay up all night and hammer out a deal so that Winston would be under contract during his first press conference as a Buccaneer the following day.

“Mike is as smart as any front office executive that you are going to deal with,” Genske said. “He combines his intellect with being well prepared. He understands deal-making. Both sides were highly motivated to reach an agreement and make Jameis the face of the franchise and get him out there as the face of the Bucs. We both worked hard and it was done in the spirit of cooperation. I have a lot of respect for both Jason and Mike and was very impressed with the way they handled themselves.

“Even under the new CBA as it pertains to draft picks there are still many complicated issues, especially when you are talking about the number one overall selection in the draft. We had a number of complicated issues that we needed to deal with, and both sides rolled up their sleeves and worked diligently on them. I was really impressed with how well prepared the Bucs were and how reasonable and understanding they were for us to reach a deal.”

One of those issues was a clause that prohibits Winston from playing professional baseball during his contract with Tampa Bay. Winston was an ace pitcher at Florida State, and the Texas Rangers used a 15th round draft pick on him in 2012 but Winston decided to return to college. Getting Winston to agree to focus only football was a key issue for the Buccaneers.

“Mike never throws ultimatums at you and that’s an effective way to do business,” Levy said. “I think he endears himself to a lot of people, but he’s certainly not a guy you can take advantage of. Don’t mistake his niceness for stupidity. He will walk away from a situation if it’s gotten to the point where he feels it’s not going to work.”

Bucs director of football administration Mike Greenberg – Photo courtesy of the Buccaneers

That happens from time to time where free agents aren’t willing to meet the Bucs’ salary demands and want more money, or they simply want to use Tampa Bay for leverage to drive the price up but they want to play elsewhere. That was the game that defensive end Greg Hardy and his agent were playing with the Bucs in the 2015 offseason before Licht and Greenberg pulled out of negotiations once they got wind Hardy’s heart was set on playing for Dallas.

“Jason trusts Mike explicitly,” said NFL agent Joe Linta, who represents tight end Cameron Brate. “They are both A-plus guys. I think they are honest to a fault. They both have integrity.”

The NFL has its share of prickish, egotistical men both in the agent community and in some teams’ front offices. Greenberg isn’t one of them. Instead, he’s an intelligent, fair genuine guy that nearly every agent likes to work with.

And that’s key to getting deals done in the NFL.

“Mike has a great reputation in the business,” Levy said. “He’s a bright mind in the league. From an agent’s perspective, he’s very well respected and very well prepared. He’s someone that you absolutely enjoy working with throughout the process because he never makes it personal. That’s critical. His goal is to call you to sign a player for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and he remains focused on that task throughout. It never becomes Mike vs. agent. That’s important.”