Inside Jared Bernhardt's Free Agency, a Possible Look into the PLL's Future

Ever since the Premier Lacrosse League launched, it has been focused on elevating the outdoor game and putting it on par with the big four sports — NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL — in the United States.

One thing that the PLL had not yet experienced, until last week, is a true free-agent frenzy. Fans wait with bated breath for updates on social media, teams in the mix for a star player, rumors about who could offer what to attract elite talent, but that experience had eluded the PLL.

The league has had free agency for years, but that type of mania had still been reserved for the big four. Then, on May 29, that all changed when ESPN NFL reporter Field Yates posted on X that 2021 Tewaaraton Award winner Jared Bernhardt was pursuing a return to the lacrosse field.

And the race to sign him was on.

Bernhardt was originally drafted by the now-Carolina Chaos in 2021. Despite being a Tewaaraton winner and having a first-overall draft grade from experts, he went in the third round. It was not really surprising given that he had made it clear he’d be pursuing football after his college lacrosse career ended. Bernhardt went to Ferris State and quarterbacked the football team to a Division II national championship, got an invite to NFL training camp, and played his way onto the Atlanta Falcons’ 53-man roster as a wide receiver.

He stepped away from football and returned to lacrosse two years ago, but as a coach. He served as director of player development at Maryland, his alma mater, in 2024.

In the PLL, if a team drafts a player and that player returns to school to play a sport other than lacrosse, the drafting team owns that player’s rights for a period of two years. A player who returns to school and plays lacrosse re-enters the draft pool the following year. Bernhardt’s situation is the former. The two-year period from his draft day had lapsed. He became a free agent the day those draft rights expired.

This is different from undrafted players, who can enter the league as part of the player pool and be added via waivers. It also means that Bernhardt is not technically a rookie, despite having not played a game. Bernhardt was a rookie during his initial draft rights period and when it lapsed, he no longer had that designation.

It’s an important distinction, because rookies in the PLL have a standard contract for a set amount of money. Bernhardt, a true free agent, would be able to pursue opportunities across the league and would be completely in the driver seat in determining his landing spot, a unique situation not seen before in the league.

“I expressed my interest to join back and see if I can maybe potentially come back and play,”  Bernhardt said. “I was fortunate that the PLL gave me the opportunity, and now here we are.”

It won’t be an abrupt transition either; Bernhardt has been back to lacrosse for long enough that he feels prepared.

“When I was doing football, I was all in for that,” he said. “I was back at Maryland, not this past season but the season before, so I’ve had the stick in my hands and all that. Gearing up here, I’ve been back to the field to get the stick going again.”

Outlaws head coach and general manager Tim Soudan knew Bernhardt was a player every team would want. He also knew having his older brother, Jesse Bernhardt, on the roster might help his team’s case.

“Jesse actually was more in contact with Coach [Jacques] Monte, and he had told Coach Monte that, ‘Hey, this might happen,’” Soudan said. “I found out, and I said something to Jacques and said, ‘Hey, Bernhardt is coming out,’ and he said, ‘I’ve known that for days.’ But Jesse wasn’t really in my ear. Jesse is very calculated in his approach to things. He was trying not to push Jared in any direction but just give him enough information to help him make the best decision.”

To fit Bernhardt on the roster, all eight teams had to consider their salary cap situations. They also had to consider their flex cap situations. Each team has a flex cap, which allows the team to spend money on players and go over the regular roster salary cap. This is a finite and set amount of money, and it can only be used on players who sign a contract that is at least three years long.

The flex cap was introduced in 2024 alongside an increase in the regular salary cap from where it was when free agency was introduced in 2021. While all teams spend 98 percent or more of the standard salary cap, some clubs had a significant amount of space in their flex cap.

Free agents, like Bernhardt, aren’t eligible for flex cap money, but teams can restructure existing contracts and use flex cap space to create regular cap space. Creative roster management, including possible contract restructures for players currently under contract, allowed at least one PLL team to offer Bernhardt a three-year deal with compensation that grew each year. By year three, Bernhardt would have been one of the league’s highest-paid players.

Salary cap considerations aside, to no surprise, Bernhardt immediately had interest from all eight teams. From the start, cap space or roster management issues wouldn’t keep a team from getting a meeting. He held meetings and calls with leadership from all eight.

“Anybody that had interest, I was open to seeing who wanted to talk,” Bernhardt said. “I wasn’t really closing the door. I just wanted to keep my options open.” 

With a pair of Jared’s brothers, Jesse and Jake, playing for the Outlaws and Maryland Whipsnakes, respectively, it begs the question of just how long it took for a pitch from Denver and Maryland to reach his inbox.

“I can’t spill the tea with them; I couldn’t give them my secrets in case I ended up playing with them or against them,” Bernhardt said with a laugh. “We’re close. I always want to get their thoughts, and really my whole family. They were super helpful. They were great with the process.”

Over the next few days, Bernhardt held calls and heard pitches. That meant calls and meetings with legends of the sport, names like Bill Tierney and Mike Pressler.

“Everyone was awesome with the process,” he said. “It was a lot of tough decisions. Growing up, seeing those names in lacrosse, and then to be on the phone and talk with them over the last several days, it was great.”

Front offices, and in some cases active players, made calls to Bernhardt. The Chaos, a team that many fans speculated would make one of the strongest pushes, offered Bernhardt a three-year deal.

Elsewhere, because of roster moves that were made and injuries that occurred during training camp in Albany, other teams who thought they might not have much cap space found themselves with money to spend, allowing them to enter the Bernhardt sweepstakes.

Ultimately, Bernhardt narrowed his decision to two teams: the California Redwoods and the Outlaws.

“It was going to be my decision, and I wanted to be in the right spot that I felt in my gut would be best for me,” Bernhardt said. “And we had great conversations on both sides. Coach Anthony Kelly and Joe Spallina, and then with [Soudan], it was all good on both sides. And that made it tougher because those are all such great guys. They tried to help out as much as possible.”

The two situations were very different. California had the most favorable cap situation and could offer more in salary and contract length, but it couldn’t offer the same locker room and offensive roster that Denver could — nor could it offer the opportunity to join his brother in the pros.

Soudan knew that he’d have to craft a pitch to Bernhardt based around more than just offering the most money, but about the roster as a whole and his vision for the future.

“My explanation to him on that front, doing the math with him, was, ‘If you take this offer, they’re never going to be able to continue to put guys around you. You’re going to have a rotating rookies-in, rookies-out situation.’ For us, I felt confident we’d be able to build a successful team around him,” Soudan said. “We knew we would have cap room moving forward. But it was hard. The thing for me is, we had to get to a threshold that we were comfortable with moving forward, so we could keep building the team out around him.”

By joining Denver, Bernhardt had the opportunity to be part of one of the league’s best young offensive cores. Soudan pitched that they could “grow old together.”

“We talked about the locker room, the culture, the staff, and ultimately, I think that’s kind of what turned it for him,” Soudan said.

For most of the process, the Outlaws were offering a one-year deal, while Bernhardt was seeking a deal for multiple seasons. As things progressed, the final point of contention was contract length, and Soudan refused to let that be the thing that kept them from landing Bernhardt.

“We were stuck on a one-year deal, and they were pushing for two,” Soudan said. “Finally, I just said, ‘Well, we’ll figure it out. If that’s the sticking point, I’ll figure it out.’” 

In the end, Bernhardt got his two-year deal with the Outlaws. Doing so meant he took less money, and a shorter contract, than he was offered by others like the Redwoods and Chaos. It was never abundantly clear to anyone, even the teams involved, what Bernhardt might do. Right down until the final moments when news of the deal broke Sunday night, there were questions about where Bernhardt would choose to sign.

Teams did know, however, that Bernhardt was very deliberate and thoughtful in the process. Soudan said that Bernhardt listened very intently and wrote down everything that teams said to him in his meetings.

“I felt confident in our conversations, but I didn’t ever really feel fully confident he would straight out choose us,” Soudan said. “He kept it tight to the vest like Jesse always does. I think toward the end I knew, and at the end of the day, I think the draw of the guys that we have on our team and the staff was really the deciding factor.”

It was, indeed, all about fit.

“In the end, I felt that was the best fit for me,” Bernhardt said. “I had great conversations on both sides. It wasn’t easy. But for myself, I felt like this was the best decision. I heard great things about that group of guys both through [Soudan] and my brother Jesse.”

The deal being done meant that Soudan had to let someone go to keep the Outlaws’ roster at 25. Ultimately, attackman Eric Law was released to open a roster spot, although Soudan did say that the team plans to try to bring Law back in the coming weeks.

Bernhardt is the fourth Tewaaraton Award winner on the roster. All four — Bernhardt, Brennan O’Neill, Logan Wisnauskas and Pat Kavanagh — are natural attackmen, meaning someone will have to make the move to midfield.

While that conversation might seem uncomfortable — how do you tell an all-time great attackman to change positions? — for Soudan it took care of itself.

“In our first conversation, Jared said, ‘Hey, I’ll play middie for you, Coach.’ Then I asked O’Neill, and he says, ‘Coach, I heard about [Bernhardt]; are we going to try and get him?’ I said, ‘Yeah, I think we need to.’ He says, ‘Yes, and if you need me to run out of the midfield, I’ll run out of the midfield.’ And Logan of course says, ‘I’ll run out of the midfield.’ That’s the character of these guys.”

“Something I learned playing at Maryland or doing the football thing, you have to do what’s best for the team,” Bernhardt said. “Hearing that tells you enough about the guys and how selfless they are. Anything that’s going to help the team win, that’s the main goal. If someone told me I’d win every game and have zero points, that’s fine with me. Whatever it takes to win.”

Bernhardt also joins a growing group of former Terps on the Outlaws. Soudan noted that having names like Wisnauskas, Alex Smith, Logan McNaney, Luke Wierman and Nick Grill, and of course his brother, gave the Outlaws an edge because it’s an easier locker room for Bernhardt to step into and be comfortable in immediately.

Bernhardt’s return, and the ongoing coverage of where he might ultimately land, became a singular focus for PLL and college lacrosse fans alike. The buzz around a PLL free agent was unprecedented.

In a way, Bernhardt’s free agency felt a bit like looking into the future. For Soudan, who said he’d never seen a buzz like this around a lacrosse free agent in the history of the sport, this is where things are headed.

“As the league grows, as the salary cap rises, you have to treat things differently,” Soudan said. “When I break apart my salary cap, it’s, ‘How long have you been around, how much do you deserve it, and then do you have another job where you make a lot of money?’ Because there are guys trying to make a living with lacrosse. And I’m forthright; I give a little extra to the guys who try to just do lacrosse full time. But the days of doing that kind of thing are going to pass us by in the next several years.”

He acknowledged that he’d spoken with and worked through agents on deals in the past, but never like this, and the situation was a testament to how special a player Bernhardt is.

“Everyone wants to grow this game,” Bernhardt said. “It’s gotten to where it’s gotten, and it’s awesome to see. But we want to keep it moving forward because it is a great game. We want to get more people to see it.”

The PLL’s current media rights deal with partner ESPN expires after this year, and league president Paul Rabil has said negotiations on the next deal with ESPN are underway and progressing. In pro sports, the foundation of a healthy and growing league is a strong media rights deal.

A new deal, for more money, would allow the PLL to increase player salaries. That would come with a salary cap increase, and likely more free agent whirlwinds like Bernhardt’s. The 2024 raising of the salary cap, along with the addition of the flex cap, have been one combined piece of the puzzle. The PLL has also said that expansion of the schedule could happen in the near term, including more games, more practices and more opportunities to play.

A larger media rights deal, more games on the schedule and a growing salary cap all mix to make free-agent frenzies like Bernhardt’s possible.

In another sign of growth in league interest and the sport, the buzz around the Bernhardt signing was organic. Official league social media accounts, including individual team accounts and league owned outlet The Lacrosse Network, were quiet on Bernhardt between the initial post from Yates about Bernhardt’s return until the deal was officially announced a week later. The massive buzz was driven naturally by fan interest and outside media coverage, a flame that needed no stoking from the league at all.

For now, with the deal done, eyes turn toward the upcoming PLL weekend in Charlotte and Bernhardt’s professional debut.

“He’s a great young man and a super athlete. Not every person that came out of college was like him,” Soudan said. “He was a guy I wanted on the team because he fits the bill. He’s a culture guy, a character guy, super athletic, and he’ll make an impact for us. This weekend. Right away.”

Bernhardt made his PLL debut Friday in Charlotte, N.C., and went 0-for-5 shooting in his first lacrosse game since 2021. The Outlaws lost 12-9 to the Chaos. Denver next plays Saturday at 7 p.m. Eastern against the Waterdogs in Philadelphia.