Draft Boycott?

Apparently the NFLPA has been lobbying sports agents to hold their clients out of the upcoming draft as a statement of union solidarity.  Could a draft boycott really happen?

No way.  For a few reasons:

1) United They Stand, Divided They Fall - Unlike the players, agents are outright competitors with each other.  If Drew Rosenhaus abstains from the draft, that just makes it easier for Tom Condon to get his clients at the top of draft boards and in line for bigger contracts.  In fact, I could see some players jumping from a boycotting agent to one who is participating in the draft.  Which brings us to reason number two:

2) Show Me The Money - Unlike their veteran brethren, the new rookies won't have years of income to fall back on over the next few months.  Coming straight out of college, a prospect will be itching to get his first paycheck (or 40th, if he's Cam Newton) and won't allow his agent to hold him out.

3) What's In It For Me? - This is the big question that agents will ask when the NFLPA proposes a boycott, and I don't think the union has a good answer for them.  In fact, with the owners and players both agreeing to establish a rookie wage scale that will drastically cut the money paid out to draftees, the agents face the possibility of losing a lot of potential revenue from future rookie contracts.

So for those worried that we'll be robbed of the one football-related event that wouldn't be affected by a lockout, you can rest easy.  Thanks to the self-interest of sports agents, the NFL draft will go on as usual.  In this case, greed is most definitely good.