Built by Athletes.
Backed by a CFP®.
Paragon’s Sports Division helps professional athletes, retired athletes, and college athletes with NIL income build wealth that lasts beyond the game.
WHY THIS MATTERS
The game prepares you for everything but what comes after it
It prepares you to compete, to perform under pressure, to push through when your body says stop. It doesn’t prepare you for what happens when the game is over.
The problem isn’t the money.
It’s that no one builds a real plan around the money.
One that accounts for a short earning window, income from multiple states, and a 40-year retirement that starts before most people’s careers take off.
That’s what we do at Paragon. We build that plan.
78%
OF NFL PLAYERS HIT FINANCIAL STRESS WITHIN 2 YEARS OF RETIRING
60%
OF NBA PLAYERS FACE SERIOUS DIFFICULTY WITHIN 5 YEARS
3.3
YEARS - THE AVERAGE NFL CAREER
<35
THE AGE MOST ATHLETES ARE ALREADY RETIRED
WHO IS IN YOUR CORNER
Orleans Darkwa
DIRECTOR OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT - SPORTS DIVISION
Someone Who Has Sat in That Locker Room
Four seasons in the NFL. Undrafted out of Tulane, which means he earned every roster spot, every snap, and every yard he ever got.
Orleans knows what the money looks like when it lands, who shows up the week it does, and how fast the window closes. He is not a salesperson assigned to a sports vertical. He is a player who lived it and now sits on your side of the table.
He leads every introduction, and he stays in the relationship long after it starts.
Allen Buckley, CFP®
MANAGING PARTNER
Someone Who Has Managed Institutional Money
Allen spent more than a decade as a Vice President at Goldman Sachs before founding Paragon. The CFP® behind his name means a rigorous national exam, documented experience, and a binding fiduciary standard.
Two decades of building plans for high and ultra high net worth families, now pointed at a problem most of that industry has never had to solve: a career that pays everything up front.
Orleans tells you what is coming. Allen builds what handles it. You work with both.
“It’s one of the hardest truths in professional sports. Athletes who earned generational money and couldn’t hold onto it. Not because they didn’t care, but because no one ever gave them a real plan. That stayed with me. At Paragon, we don’t just manage money. We build a plan around your life, during the game and after it”
What That Builds
INTEGRATED TAX
Your Advisor and Your Tax Preparer Are on the Same Team
At most firms, your advisor and your CPA have never met. At Paragon, tax preparation through Paragon Tax is built into the relationship, not bolted onto it. The people managing your money talk directly to the people filing your returns.
When you are earning in fifteen states, taking NIL money on a 1099, and watching a signing bonus land inside a single tax year, that is not a convenience.
It is the difference between keeping the money and sending it away.
BUILT FOR THE WINDOW
A Plan Built for a Three-Year Window and a Forty-Year Retirement
Most people earn across four decades. You may earn most of yours across three years. That shape changes everything about how the money should be structured.
We build portfolios with individual stocks and bonds, not mutual funds, so we can harvest tax losses throughout the year instead of once at the end of it. We are a fee-based fiduciary. No commissions, no product sales, no proprietary anything.
Your only job is to play. Ours is to make sure the money outlasts the career.
Who We Work With
Professional Athletes
NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, MLS. If you’re earning income across multiple states, managing endorsement deals, and trying to build something that lasts beyond your playing career, we can help. We’ll build a plan that coordinates your investments, your taxes, and your long-term goals so nothing falls through the cracks.
Retired Athletes
The transition from playing to whatever comes next is one of the biggest financial inflection points of your life. Your income changes. Your tax picture changes. Your timeline changes. We work with retired athletes to build a retirement income plan, manage concentrated positions, and make sure the wealth you built during your career is still working for you 20, 30, 40 years from now.
College Athletes (NIL)
NIL income is real money, and it comes with real tax obligations. If you’re a college athlete earning from name, image, and likeness deals, you need to understand how that income is taxed, how to set aside the right amount, and how to start building a financial foundation while you’re still playing. We help college athletes get this right from the start.
How We Help
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We build portfolios with individual stocks and bonds, not mutual funds. This gives you full transparency into what you own, and it gives us the ability to actively harvest tax losses throughout the year. For athletes with concentrated, short-window income, this is a material advantage.
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Through Paragon Tax, we prepare your tax returns and build your tax strategy as part of the same team managing your investments. Your advisor and your tax preparer are working from the same playbook. Most firms can’t say that, and most athletes are paying more than they need to because of it.
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If you play in the NFL, NBA, MLB, or NHL, you’re earning income in every state you play a game. That means 15 to 20 state tax returns every year. We coordinate your multi-state filing as part of your overall tax plan so you’re not leaving money on the table.
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NIL payments are projected to exceed $2.5 billion this year. That’s real income, and it comes with real tax obligations, including estimated quarterly payments, self-employment tax, and multi-state filing if you’re earning from brands in different states. We help college athletes set up the right structure from day one.
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Most athletes retire before 35. That means your retirement isn’t 20 years. It’s 40 or 50 years. We build a retirement income plan that accounts for that reality: Social Security timing, Roth conversions, pension elections if applicable, and a withdrawal strategy that makes your wealth last.
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Signing bonuses, guaranteed money, incentive clauses, endorsement income. The cash flow picture for an athlete is nothing like a traditional salary. We map out your income streams, build a budget around what’s guaranteed versus what’s not, and make sure your spending plan holds up even if the contract doesn’t.
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Protecting what you’ve built matters. We coordinate with estate attorneys to structure trusts, beneficiary designations, and asset protection strategies that keep your wealth in your family. Tennessee’s trust laws are among the strongest in the country, and dynasty trusts can last 360+ years.
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If a significant portion of your wealth is tied up in a single stock, a signing bonus invested in one place, or equity from a business venture, that’s a concentrated position. We build strategies to diversify over time in a tax-efficient way so you’re not choosing between a big tax bill and staying overexposed.
Educational Resources
We believe the best financial decisions come from understanding your options. These resources are designed specifically for athletes and their families.
The Athlete’s Financial Playbook
A free guide covering the biggest financial decisions athletes face, from your first contract to your last game and everything after. Covers taxes, investing, estate planning, and the mistakes that cost athletes the most.
Friday One-Minute Market Recap
Every Friday, Allen Buckley, CFP®, posts a 60-second video covering what happened in the markets that week and what he’s watching next. No jargon, no noise. Just what matters.
What Athletes Are Saying
“At Paragon, we don’t just manage money. We build a plan around your life, during the game and after it.”
“My first year in the NFL, Orleans really took me under his wing. He told me that, “the way I prepare week to week for opposing teams, needs to be the same when it comes to my finances”. I regularly ask him for advice and I greatly value his opinion”
Let’s Talk About Your Plan
No obligation. No sales pitch. Just a conversation about where you are and where you want to be.
Call us: (615) 249-4091 | Email Orleans: [email protected]