When Washington hired active NFL agent Cameron Foster to be its senior director of cap management last February, the school confirmed that Foster, a former member of the Huskies' rowing team, would continue managing his private agency practice, Reign Sports Management. It wasn't clearly explained at the time what exactly that entailed, but Washington was evidently fine with it or they wouldn't have hired Foster in the first place.
More than a year later, we have a really good idea, and it's eye-opening.
As reported by Daniel Libit at Sportico, Foster's Reign Sports Management is not only continuing to represent NFL players -- many of them former Huskies -- but he's also in business with several active college football players, and some high school prospects. While leading Washington's negotiations with its own athletes, Foster is also sitting on the other side of the table as reps players at other programs, including two at U-Dub's Big Ten rival USC.
This raises obvious ethical questions, but there are no NCAA, NFLPA or Big Ten rules against it, nor any Washington state laws. While not stated explicitly in the article, it seems Foster and Washington have a mutual understanding that he won't negotiate against himself by repping any current or prospective Huskies, but then again perhaps that just hasn't come up yet.
Aside from the obvious, my first thought was, Why is Washington okay with a senior employee working other athletes on the side? Imagine if one of Jedd Fisch's assistants also trained non-Huskies for NFL draft prep. How does he have enough spare time and energy to take that on? Fisch would ask. Am I not paying him enough? Is he slacking off in his real job?
But then I realized I had it wrong. Washington is Foster's side gig. After all, the $20.5 million rev share cap is a gargantuan figure in college athletics, but it's relatively small potatoes in the NFL world. Reign client Vita Vea will earn nearly that much ($18 million) by himself in 2026. Obviously, Washington was aware that Foster wasn't quitting his day job upon hiring him, and they're clearly satisfied with his work. Libit reports that U-Dub paid him $150,000 for his first year on the job, and then upped his pay to $185,000 for 2026.
And this lead to another thought: It shows just how flimsy the entire operation in college athletics. Consider that a Big Ten institution is paying really good money for an essential function to someone who works for them as a side gig.