Taylor Decker joins new OL-only sports agency ahead of potential extension

Detroit Lions left tackle Taylor Decker has joined a new sports agency, per his twitter account. Decker has joined with AMDG Sports, the first sports agency “dedicated to the representation of offensive line athletes.”

AMDG Sports’ founder, former NFL offensive lineman LeCharles Bentley, has spent most of his post-NFL career working to improve the game—and the lives—of current offensive linemen. He founded the LeCharles Bentley O-Line Performance center, which aims to help train both college and NFL athletes with technique, strength and conditioning, and film breakdowns.

AMDG Sports, which is short for “Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam” or “For the greater glory of God” in latin, challenges conventional sports agencies by providing unique services for offensive linemen seeking more than just a lofty contract.

“The challenge is creating a shift in your mindset, breaking your mind away from the non-truths this industry sells as the truth,” Bentley says in the website’s opening video. “A challenge is getting you to see what’s possible—what’s possible in your football career, but more importantly, what’s possible in your life.”

Decker, who also trained at Bentley’s performance center, is one of a handful of clients of the new sports agency, which also include former Lions Pro Bowl guard Larry Warford, Bobby Massie and even a couple of 2020 draft picks in Shane Lemieux and Justin Herron.

The timing is interesting for Decker, as he enters the final year of his rookie contract with the Detroit Lions. Decker is coming off one of his better years, allowing just seven sacks all season and only two in the final six games, per PFF. His overall PFF grade in the final half of the season (81.7) ranked him among the top five of all NFL offensive tackles.

Seeing as the Lions did not add any offensive tackle competition this offseason, it’s quite possible that Decker is in line for a big extension in the upcoming months. While he’s not likely to see the kind of deal that Pro Bowl left tackle Laremy Tunsil just got—three years, $66 million—he is likely due a pretty substantial raise from his previous year’s salary of $1.9 million. Decker is currently on his fifth-year option, which is set at $10.35 million—all guaranteed for injury.