The 2021-22 Off-season Summary Just in Case You Were Living Under a Rock

OK, so that title is slightly dramatic because even as someone who followed the off-season closely, there was so much going on that it’s nice to take a step back and remind myself what all transpired over the last few months. I’m going to go in chronological order and cover every move or extension that was newsworthy. Buckle up, this is a wild ride.

Drew Gibson 1-Year Player Deal and Lifetime Business Deal with Infinite Discs

Drew led the off-season with one of the more confusing and unique deals the sport has ever seen. We first heard of the deal from an Instagram post from Drew’s personal account that claimed that he had signed his first deal worth over a million dollars and it was a lifetime deal. This of course stirred up social media as everyone began attempting to fill in the blanks and speculate what this deal actually added up to and involved. The confusion didn’t last for long, however, as Drew made another post and later joined a podcast to break down the details of his new deal. He officially signed a one-year athlete deal with Infinite Discs, then proceeded to sign a lifetime business deal between his company, Gibson Industries, and Infinite Discs. This partnership was created to birth Drew’s own personal line of discs, titled under the brand Finish Line Discs. So essentially, Drew has taken a similar route as Paul McBeth, creating a personal line of discs to have creative freedom while simultaneously supplementing his salary with Infinite.

Kristin Tattar Signs a 4-Year Extension with Latitude 64

Kristin’s electric play at the end of the 2021 season earned her a big check from Latitude. Her deal worth $500k over four years is reported to be all guaranteed money. This deal was of record-breaking value at the time it was announced and is a huge step for not just FPO players, but disc golf as a sport.

Eric Oakley Signs with Infinite Discs

Few players are as synonymous with their sponsor as Eric and Dynamic, so it was a slight shock when he announced he was leaving to explore other opportunities. Before long, it was announced that he had landed with Infinite Discs. No further details of the contract have been made public at this point.

Gavin Rathbun Joins Dynamic Discs on a 1-Year Deal

Niklas Anttila Signs a 2-Year Extension with Discmania

Cole Redalen Signs a 1-Year Deal with Infinite Discs and a 3-Year Deal with EV-7

Matt Orum Signs a 2-Year Deal with Westside Discs

Gregg Barsby Signs a 3-Year Extension with Innova Champion Discs

Matt Bell Signs a 3-Year Deal with EV-7 and an Unknown Length Deal with Thought Space

Brad Schick Signs a 2-Year Extension with Discraft

Michael Johansen Signs a 3-Year Extension with Discraft

Andrew Fish Signs a 1-Year Extension with Discraft

Andrew Presnell Signs a 1-Year Extension with Discraft

Andrew Marwede Signs a Muliyear Deal with DGA

This deal was the first huge move for DGA (more on that later), and it secured them 11th ranked MPO player in the world currently. It surprised me a little to see DGA move in for a big player, but it wasn’t as shocking since the departure of Matt Bell would have freed up some space on the payroll. At the time, this seemed like DGA’s big splash of the off-season. Boy were we wrong.

Macie Velediaz Signs a 1-Year Extension with Dynamic Discs

Erika Stinchcomb Signs a 1-Year Extension with Westside Discs

Adam Hammes Signs a 3-Year Extension with Discraft

Adam was a free agent that I had my eye on ever since I learned that his Discraft deal was expiring at the end of 2021. Hammes had a perfect “contract year” with multiple wins on tour. This was sure to bolster his value, which made me uncertain if Discraft would commit to an expensive, long-term deal. In the end, they were able to lock him up for three years, but the dollar value is still unknown.

Des Reading Signs a 1-Year Deal with Mint Discs

Missy Gannon Signs a 2-Year Extension with Discraft

Kevin Jones Signs a 4-Year Extension with Prodigy

Prodigy wasted no time securing a future with their star player after seeing all the market chaos early in the off-season. I think it’s safe to assume that the compensation must be pretty high for Kevin to commit to such a long extension.

Valerie Mandujano Signs a 2-Year Deal with Dynamic Discs

Ricky Wysocki Signs a 4-Year Deal with Dynamic Discs

When the season ended last year, Ricky was not a name we expected to hear in free agency. With plenty of time left on his Innova deal, there was no reason to expect what transpired. It began with rumors alluding that Ricky was unhappy at Innova. Then there were whispers that he was leaving his contract early. All this finally led to him announcing his departure from Innova not long after. Being the number one player in the world, there was plenty of noise from the fans trying to predict his next stop, but most people had the safe assumption that he was headed to a trilogy manufacturer. Dynamic had the most room to land a big signing, so the eventual announcement was expected to say the least. Ricky’s deal pays him one million guaranteed each year, matching Paul McBeth’s annual salary. He was also paid a $250k signing bonus in bitcoin. It will be fun to see Rick throw some of the molds that won him two world titles just a few years back.

Mason Ford Signs a 2-Year Deal with Dynamic Discs

Kona Panis Signs a 4-Year Deal with Dynamic Discs

Social media is no joke folks. Kona is no doubt a talented golfer with tons of potential, but I’d guarantee her social media presence and influence was a big factor in a deal that matches Kristin Tattar’s. $500k of guaranteed salary for two FPO players in the same year. How awesome is that? Dynamic has certainly not been shy with their spending, and I’m glad that they decided to release the details of these historic deals.

Nate Sexton Signs 2-Year Extension with Innova Champion Discs

Hailey King Signs with Innova Champion Discs

I was very surprised that Discraft let Hailey slip away. I thought they would lock her up long-term, but for whatever reason, she decided to leave for Innova. We don’t know the details of this move, but I would guess it’s short-term because the whole thing seemed a bit last minute. Hailey is one of the more valuable talents in the FPO division, so I would be shocked if she didn’t sign a massive deal sometime in the near future.

Ella Hansen Signs a 2-Year Extension with Discmania

Gannon Buhr Signs a 2-Year Extension with Prodigy

Chris Dickerson Signs a 4-Year Deal with Discraft

Discraft added another top talent to their roster with the signing of Dickerson on a four-year deal that is reported to be worth upwards of one million dollars in total. I was happy to see Chris secure a big contract, being one of the best players in the world over the past few seasons. I’m sure it will be a thing a beauty to see him hyzer-flipping the buzzz all over the tour in 2022.

Casey White Signs a 2-Year Extension with Discmania

Lauri Lehtinen Signs a 2-Year Extension with Latitude 64

Rebecca Cox Signs a 1-Year Extension with Latitude 64

Linus Carlsson Signs a 1-Year Deal with Latitude 64

Connor O’Reilly Signs a 1-Year Extension with Latitude 64

Cynthia Ricciotti Signs a 1-Year Deal with Discmania

Catrina Allen Signs with DGA

The grand finale of the off-season did not disappoint. DGA must be selling a lot of those baskets because Cat could not have come cheap. The reigning world champion left her deal with Prodigy to join DGA and when the announcement dropped I could hardly believe it. I never expected them to bring in such a high-caliber player. Between her and Marwede being signed, DGA will be fully in the spotlight this season. I’m hoping the details of this contract eventually surface because it would be fascinating to see how they compare to the deals signed by Kona and Kristin.