Six Days

Good morning.

Wow. Less than a week until the big day. I hope that doesn’t mean you’re panicking, and I hope you’ve been able to grasp all the vagaries of the CBA, agent regs, NFL Players Inc., drug and PED policy, and everything else testable. However, we’ve heard from literally dozens of new people pursuing certification in the last week-plus, so I thought I’d send out one last reminder on everything we offer to get you ready. 

Our new exam application ($250): Many of you have only recently found our app, which gives you an infinite number of 60-Q practice exams from our well of 200 questions. Each exam is in the exact ratio of topics you’ll see Monday. I think you really need to see the exact structure of the exam questions; this is the best way.

ITL Study Guide ($400): Our guide is the key to passing the exam. The NFLPA goes quickly through the material in the Zoom sessions that begin tomorrow (some might say they race through it). Our 67-page PDF gives you a fighting chance to absorb all the key topics while blocking out the often ill-advised questions posed to the session hosts. It’s concise and clearly written, with easy-to-understand examples.

Saturday Review Zoom Session ($80): I’ve been spending the last week gathering up my notes from last year’s test-takers on what they saw, just as I did after the 2023 and 2024 exams. Ian Greengross, our “guru,” will be presenting almost-complete renderings of 2023 and 2024 (not the exact questions, but the topics of almost all of them) plus my notes from last year’s exam. Want to know what to expect Monday? Join us Saturday night at 8pm EDT for a two-hour Zoom.

Pressure Test ($65): Your preparation must absolutely include a measure of your pacing – not finishing the exam is the most common reason people give for failing. Last Thursday, we published 20 new questions and gave participants an hour to finish them, followed by Ian working all of them on Zoom. If you’ve already taken several of our practice exams and want a fresh evaluation of your readiness for Monday, try the Pressure Test.

We’ve also been offering Zoom sessions since February – we start earlier than anyone else – as Ian has introduced all the key topics in one-hour bites over seven months. Maybe you’re struggling with certain concepts. Here’s a look at everything we’ve offered so far. 

• February ($50 plus tax): Given a signing bonus and Year 4 cap number, calculate rookie salary; calculation of problems re: June 1 rule; and calculation of agent fees, including split between two agents after one has been terminated.
• March ($50 plus tax): Eligibility (accrued, credited for benefits, credited for salary) and free agency (Tenders, ROFR, exclusive rights free agency, restricted rights free agency, unrestricted free agency; transition tag, franchise/non-exclusive with terms, franchise/exclusive with terms); determining if a player has accrued a season, earned credit for benefits, earned credit for salary; deadline for payment (if cut on Tuesday, does he get paid?); split contracts; and termination pay.
• April ($50 plus tax): Veteran salary benefit (VSB); preseason split and in-season split, types of splits, definition, etc.; workman’s comp offsets; signals; Player Performance Escalator (PPE); and practice squad salaries. 
• May ($50 plus tax): Termination pay; injury grievance; injured reserve/designated for return; severance pay/calculation of retirement benefits.
• June ($50 plus tax): Fifth-year option; RFA tenders; reporting dates/calculating opening day of camp; offseason workout rules; five-day acclimation period.
• July ($50 plus tax): Substances of abuse: testing, sampling, the program, dates, participation, stages, discipline; alcohol; non-alcoholic substances of abuse; computation of fines, suspensions, other related issues; performance-enhancing drugs; unknowing ingestion of drugs; levels of punishment per violation; Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE);  forfeitable salary allocations/forfeitable breach; benefits overview.

One more thing. Ian is available at $200/hour if you need concentrated one-on-one work between now and Monday; that’s about half of what the competition charges, and you won’t find an agent who knows the CBA better than Ian. Contact him at ian@greengross.com. 

I’m on 24-hour call till Monday. Whatever you need, please reach out by responding to this email or contacting me directly at nstratton@insidetheleague.com. Don’t panic – we’ve got help at an affordable price, no matter where you are in the process. 

Don’t be discouraged! You can do this, and we’d love to help. Happy studying. We’re here when you need us.