Hectic conclusion to NFL draft for Canadian offensive lineman Ryan Hunter

Enduring post-draft chaos was nothing new for Ghavami. He fielded between 10 and 15 free-agent offers for Canadian Antony Auclair last year before the former Laval tight end joined the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

“At the end of the draft you don’t have time to wait and must be prepared,” Ghavami said. “If you’re not, you’ll be eaten alive.

“I’ve done it two straight years now and can honestly say I love the whole process. It’s extremely stressful but also extremely exhilarating.”

Ghavami said the post-draft frenzy would make for captivating television.

“It would be gold for people to see what really happens,” he said.

Ghavami said six teams wanted to sign Hunter as a free agent but two — the Chiefs and another — expressed the most interest. The calls began in the sixth round with formal offers coming in the seventh.

Once the draft ended, Ghavami and Hunter had mere minutes to negotiate and ask questions before deciding which offer to accept.

“You have about 30 seconds when a team is on the phone to make a decision,” Hunter said. “If you don’t answer quick enough teams are going to forget about you and move on because they know there are many guys who’d love to be on their team.”

That’s why it was Ghavami who ultimately accepted the Chiefs’ offer.

“The Chiefs presented a very strong offer,” Ghavami. “We just wanted to do our due diligence and had only a few minutes to contact the other team.

“When I did, I felt some hesitation on their part so I asked, ‘Are you guys looking at other players right now and maybe Ryan isn’t a position of priority for you at this very second,’ because things can change quickly. They said, ‘Yes, that’s pretty much it. We have to wait for other guys to get back to us.’ That’s when I said, ‘Well, I’m sorry but we can’t wait,’ and called the Chiefs back and accepted their offer.”

Ghavami admitted that’s not standard practice, but the clock was ticking.

“I couldn’t tell the other team, ‘Get back to me when you’re ready,’ because the Chiefs would move on,” Ghavami said. “Had I called (Chiefs) back 30 seconds later, I’m not sure their offer would’ve still been on the table.

“When the other team delayed, I had to make that call. When I called Ryan, I said, ‘I’ve never done this before but I just accepted an offer for you.’”

That was fine with Hunter.

“Time is definitely of the essence when it comes to choosing what NFL team to play for,” he said.

Before the draft, Ghavami identified the Chiefs as a good fit for Hunter. Not only did they lose guard Zach Fulton to the Houston Texans but have Canadian Laurent Duvernay-Tardif — a starting guard and Ghavami client — on the roster.

“I knew Ryan could play that role of swing interior lineman very well,” Ghavami said. “And you can’t put enough value on having someone like Laurent there.

“You have a veteran who’s French Canadian, a really solid head coach in Andy Reid and a solid organization. It all fit.”

Hunter felt prepared to face the post-draft chaos.

“Sasha did a lot of pre-draft work compiling an extensive spreadsheet with all the teams and their roster spots,” Hunter said. “When offers started coming and teams started calling, I could revert back to the spreadsheet and have talking points to go over and talk through if they asked where my head was at.

“Kudos to him for all the work he did so when the time came we were ready.”

Ghavami said his ’17 experience with Auclair was invaluable.

“I’d say that was more hectic because Antony had a draftable grade on most teams’ board,” Ghavami said. “After the draft I couldn’t hang up my phone . . . there was always a call waiting so we had to act fast.

“It was my first experience living that and it came down, simply put, to Tampa presenting the strongest offer, one of the strongest in undrafted free agency. It’s crazy because during the draft you’re saying, ‘Draft him, draft him,’ and when it’s over and he’s undrafted, you must make a decision quickly but don’t have the time to make it.”

Being undrafted can be disappointing for a player but Ghavami said free agency has its benefits.

“I want the player to be drafted by the team we want from the beginning,” he said. “But I’d rather go undrafted and be able to pick a team than go to one drafting by need and not because they like the player so much.

“As a free agent you get to choose. It’s a stressful process but it’s also a huge adrenalin rush. I’ve never lived anything like it.”

Dan Ralph, The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press

Hectic conclusion to NFL draft for Canadian offensive lineman Ryan Hunter

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