I stopped by AT&T this afternoon to discuss my options and was told that early upgrades are no longer available so either you're a special case or the rep didn't know what he was talking about.
I was planning on paying the early upgrade cost and selling my old phone to make up a little of the difference. He told me my only options would be to get the phone through Next and add the monthly fee onto my bill, wait until next year for my full upgrade or buy outright.