Why does Cowboys owner and G.M. Jerry Jones prefer to bypass agents and negotiate directly with players? Because it works.
For that reason, the agents representing former Giants defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence successfully prevented new coach John Harbaugh from speaking directly to Lawrence after Lawrence requested a trade.
Paul Schwartz of the New York Post reports that agent Joel Segal prevented Harbaugh from speaking directly to Lawrence. It’s smart; Harbaugh and his who’s-got-it-better-than-us? personality could have weakened Lawrence’s will.
Schwartz also reports that Segal didn’t want to deal with G.M. Joe Schoen. Instead, Segal reportedly negotiated with senior V.P. of football administration and strategy Dawn Aponte and senior player personnel director Chris Mara, with Schoen still involved in the situation.
The good news for Schoen is that it’s harder to blame him for the outcome. The bad news for Schoen is that, with Harbaugh taking control of the team (Aponte, for example, reports to Harbaugh), there will be a perception that Schoen has become further isolated.
The handwriting has seemingly been on the wall since Harbaugh was hired. He secured a direct line of reporting to ownership, turning decades of internal protocol on its head. The fact that Aponte, who has front-office duties, reports to Harbaugh and not Schoen has bolstered the perception that Schoen’s influence is diminishing.
Some will wonder whether this means a G.M. change is coming. While teams often change General Managers after the season, the more natural timeline for a front-office overhaul comes after the draft, when the reset button is essentially pressed on a year’s worth of scouting to come.
However it plays out, body language experts will have a field day with the coming images from the team’s draft room on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.
