NFL agent describes immediate chaos for players who go undrafted

The NFL Draft is now less than a week away. And by now, we've exhausted the discussions about quarterback sensations Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III; about what the Vikings plan to do with their No. 3 pick; about the value of receivers and left tackles and running backs.

But have you ever wondered what this final week is like for those middle- to late-round prospects and their agents? Have you ever heard about the chaos that ensues after the final pick is made for those players who weren't drafted? Ever wanted an agent's take on the noise and hype that surrounds the draft?

This week, we visited with agent Blake Baratz, president of the Institute for Athletes, at his downtown Minneapolis office. Baratz has three clients who have a chance of being drafted next week – Texas defensive tackle Kheeston Randall, Iowa guard Adam Gettis and Wisconsin kicker Philip Welch.

Here are the eight most notable insights Baratz regarding the undercurrent that exists during the final stages before the draft …

On how an agent takes the pulse on the draft stock of his clients …

"At this stage, I'm talking to teams, if not daily then every other day. So you start to get a pretty good idea of which teams are interested in your players, how heavily and in what capacity. And I won't know even up to the day of the draft, 90 percent of the time, as to exactly where a player is going to go. But I have an idea of which teams have a heavy interest in them. And I know where they have them graded from a draft standpoint and I know what number they pick in each round. So I can pigeonhole that. These are the three or four teams that really like them, this is where they draft, so there's a good chance they go in this little window."

On getting the players themselves to understand that part of the equation …

On the hype that surrounds the draft from the media and draft pundits …

"It's a ton of overkill. There are so many of these mock drafts and all this speculation. Mel Kiper. Todd McShay. Every other blogger in the world. They don't know anything anyway. It's not like [Chiefs general manager] Scott Pioli is telling Todd McShay his entire draft strategy. They're telling almost no one their strategy. Before last year's draft, we had Adrian Clayborn, who went 20^th [to Tampa Bay], and we had Jonas Mouton, who went in the second round [to San Diego]. And I didn't have a single team before the draft telling me Jonas Mouton was going to get taken higher than the third round. If you look at any of these mock drafts, they all had Jonas in the sixth round, the seventh round, undrafted. It's all a circus. It's for the fans. It's the media. It's speculation. And because there is so much hype surrounding the National Football League, that's what happens. I don't read it. I don't care. I try to remain even keel."

On the pre-draft stock rise of client Adam Gettis, a guard from Iowa …

"From a media standpoint, he was under the radar to begin with. He was only a one-year starter at Iowa. He had a really good senior year, was very fundamentally sound. But you're talking about the Iowa offensive line. And there you have Riley Reiff stealing a bulk of the spotlight because he's a top 20 pick. Plus the normal person can't name two college guards in the country anyway, let alone the eighth best guard in the country. With Adam, I had done enough homework on him and talked to enough people in the NFL to do know he was very good fundamentally. But he played guard in college at like 275 pounds. So the issue for him was he was already going to be off a bunch of team's draft boards because he wasn't heavy enough to play on their offensive line. We knew he would test out great athletically. But none of that matters if you're not big enough and strong enough to play on the offensive line in the NFL. So we set a goal that he would weigh in at 290-plus come the combine. … He showed up there at 294 and athletically did everything people expected him to. So now he's "on the rise." Not surprising to us. But to all the NFL teams that don't know him that well and the media that doesn't know who he is, for a guy to come in at 294 and put up the numbers he put up, it showed how athletic he was."

On why stories like that seem common …

On the Vikings seemingly having interest in both Gettis and Kheeston Randall …

"It's two positions they definitely need help at. They're looking for a D-tackle to play next to Kevin Williams, a plugger. Too many running backs were getting to the second level last season and getting to the linebackers. So they're looking for a Pat Williams replacement. Kheeston is lighter than Pat but more athletic. There's some interest there. They like him. He'd be a good fit. And Adam is just versatile. He plays both guard positions. He can play center. For him, all of it will depend on what Minnesota does at the top of the draft. If they take Kalil, then Charlie [Johnson] gets kicked inside to guard and that position becomes less of a priority. But where these two guys should get drafted – third, fourth, fifth round – a lot of those picks you're looking for versatility, hunting for depth. Minnesota's in rebuilding mode and obviously has many areas of need. But they've gotten to know those guys well."

On the frenzy that will occur Saturday night when the draft is over and teams begin scrambling to sign undrafted free agents …

"The undrafted process is the worst process in the whole world. It's chaos. Absolute chaos. Guys literally have 2 minutes to make a decision. Fortunately or unfortunately, I have experience doing it. And so I'm monitoring the draft very closely and constantly updating the depth charts very closely. For an undrafted free agent, where they land is so important. That is what determines whether they have a shot or don't have a shot. And I know each team's tendencies. If we have an undrafted tight end, for example, I know which teams happen to keep two tight ends on average or five tight ends on average. The New York Giants, at a minimum, will keep four tight ends on their roster, sometimes five. The New Orleans Saints usually keep two. So if the Saints already have four or five tight ends on their roster and you're an undrafted free agent tight end, you don't want to go to New Orleans. Too many agents ignore that fact. And if New Orleans offers $5,000 more than the Giants, they'll send their guy to New Orleans. And that can be the end of a guy's career. That quickly. So I've got those depth charts under constant watch. And I've already started having those conversations about those guys who could potentially go undrafted. You need to make sure your guy has a home quickly. Because once those rosters fill up, they're gone. And guys have literally one minute to make a decision a lot of times.

"Honestly, it's so chaotic. The GMs and a lot of times even the scouts are calling about 20 players at one time. And they may even be calling the players directly. So if you have two or three of those guys, everyone is calling at the exact same time and they want a decision right then. So if I find an opportunity that's a good home for the guy, I'm going to try to hold on to that as long as possible while I search everything else out. Some guys have only one offer. But Jake Ballard had 25 different offers as an undrafted free agent [before signing with the Giants]. Jonathan Casillas had two dozen offers. The Buccaneers, with Casillas, came to us offering to pay seventh-round money. They were going to give him a $40,000 signing bonus. And we turned it down to take $10,000 from New Orleans based simply on the opportunity. At the time, it was the right decision. He contributed to a Super Bowl champion as a rookie. And Tampa Bay went in the opposite direction. But it all depends on the individual and the situation and the teams involved.

On veteran free agents that remain unsigned right now …