Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts and his trailblazing agent Nicole Lynn made NFL history on Monday.
Hurts, who led the Eagles to Super Bowl 57 in February, became the league’s highest-paid player on an annual basis thanks to a five-year contract extension worth $255 million. The contract, negotiated by Lynn, is believed to be the largest ever completed by a female agent, according to an NFL news release.
Lynn, 34, first teamed with Hurts in 2020 amid her quick ascent as an agent. She is now president of the football division of Klutch Sports Group, the Los Angeles–based agency that represents superstar athletes like basketball players LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
Here is what you need to know about Lynn and her historic partnership with Hurts.
Who Is Nicole Lynn?
Lynn grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and attended Booker T. Washington High School before enrolling at the University of Oklahoma. She earned a degree in business management and later returned for law school, earning her juris doctor with honors.
While a student at Oklahoma, she also met her husband, Gabriel Lynn, who is now the assistant director of player personnel for the University of Colorado football team.
According to her alumni testimonial on the Oklahoma admissions site, Lynn worked on Wall Street for a competitive analyst program before going back to law school. She also worked in Houston for the Norton Rose Fulbright law firm.
Lynn began her NFL journey in 2015 when she became the first female agent for PlayersRep. Young Money APAA Sports Agency, owned by rapper Lil Wayne, acquired the company in 2017.
Even so, it wasn’t until 2019 that Lynn first entered the national spotlight. When she signed New York Jets defensive tackle Quinnen Williams, she became the first Black woman to represent a top-three NFL draft pick.
Then in 2021, Lynn joined Klutch Sports Group as president of football operations; she was promoted to president of the division in April 2023. The agency represents NFL stars like Hurts’ Eagles teammate DeVonta Smith, Cleveland Browns wide receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones, and Washington Commanders defensive end Chase Young.
Lynn wrote a memoir called Agent You: Show Up, Do the Work, and Succeed on Your Own Terms that published in 2021 and that shares her career journey and offers advice to readers on how to achieve goals. She is also the inspiration for an unnamed TV series on Starz that is backed by rapper 50 Cent and his G Unit Film & Television company.
How Did Nicole Lynn Meet Jalen Hurts?
She slid into his Instagram DMs. No really.
According to Sports Illustrated, Lynn sent Hurts a message following his final collegiate game for Oklahoma in 2020 asking if he had found an agent yet. “If not, I’d love to link,” she told him.
Hurts, now 24, accepted the invitation. Lynn met with the quarterback and his father while she was sick with the flu. Although Lynn was unsure how the exchange went, Hurts could sense she was a kindred spirit. Just as he found motivation from scouts doubting his NFL chances, he could tell Lynn was driven to prove she belonged in a male-dominated business.
“She was hungry. And she was determined. And I feel that determination like that never rests,” Hurts told SI. “Once you come across such a determined individual, that just hits me a little different.”
Hurts chose Lynn to represent him and ended up going to Philadelphia as the 53rd selection in the 2020 NFL draft, after other quarterbacks like Joe Burrow, Tua Tagovailoa, Justin Herbert, and Jordan Love. Hurts and Burrow are the only two that have started and won a playoff game so far—they’ve also both played in the Super Bowl.
Hurts notably has an all-female team in charge of managing his NFL affairs. According to SI, Chantal Romain, Shakeemah Simmons-Winter, and Jenna Malphrus handle his media relations and client services, while Rachel Everett oversees his marketing.
Who Are Lynn’s Other Clients?
In addition to Hurts, Lynn has a number of current and soon-to-be NFL clients. The most prominent is Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett, who has averaged more than 12 sacks over his six seasons in the league.
Others include New York Giants offensive tackle Evan Neal and New England Patriots quarterback Bailey Zappe. Upcoming NFL draft picks Bijan Robinson of the University of Texas and Will Anderson Jr. from the University of Alabama also work with Lynn.
She has also represented softball players Lauren Chamberlain and Jennifer Gilbert as well as Erica Lall of the American Ballet Theater, according to USA Today.
Tyler Piccotti
News and Culture Editor, Biography.com
Tyler Piccotti first joined the Biography.com staff as an Associate News Editor in February 2023, and before that worked almost eight years as a newspaper reporter and copy editor. He is a graduate of Syracuse University. When he's not writing and researching his next story, you can find him at the nearest amusem*nt park, catching the latest movie, or cheering on his favorite sports teams.
