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Andre Johnson Loses Money Through Self-Representation

Andre Johnson has no one to blame but himself. Literally.

Instead of hiring an agent to navigate the choppy waters of contract negotiation, the Houston Texans' All-Pro wide receiver has until very recently represented himself, with the aid of his uncle, Andre Melton, Yahoo Sports reports.

The puzzling decision has Johnson trapped in a long-term contract that will cost him about $20 million.

Johnson signed a six-year, $39 million rookie contract after the Texans selected him third overall in the 2003 draft.

So far, so good.

But that’s when the success of his intuition ended, and the need for professional legal advice became apparent.

Rather than allowing his first contract to expire, Johnson elected to extend the deal six years in 2007. Considering the contract’s incremental increase, Johnson will stand to collect $81.71 million when the deal reaches its end in 2014.

How would the decision to wait two years and renegotiate have augmented his total earnings?
Just ask his most comparable fellow receiver — Larry Fitzgerald — who renegotiated a four-year, $40 million extension with the Cardinals.

If Johnson had let his original deal expire, he could have signed a much more lucrative deal than what turned out to be an eight-year, $60 million deal.

Not that anyone’s too worried he’ll waste away.