When news broke yesterday that Titans quarterback Vince Young has hired CAA to handle his football business, we immediately looked at the player-agent list to see whether Young’s backup, Kerry Collins, also is represented by CAA.
Collins isn’t, but another quarterback linked to Young is (for now) a CAA client: Matt Leinart, who like Young was a top-ten pick in 2006. The news possibly came as an unwelcome surprise to Leinart, who celebrated his 27th birthday on Tuesday.
Four years ago, CAA wouldn’t have represented both players, since they were both hoping to be the first quarterback taken off the board. Today, the question is whether a potential conflict still exists.
On the surface, the answer is no. Both players have their teams, and whether Young remains the long-term answer in Tennessee is irrelevant to whether Leinart keeps the starting job in Arizona. But both men are signed through 2011. What if they become free agents at the same time -- and what if both are hoping to get a job with the same team?
Surely, the folks at CAA were aware of the possible problems before signing Young. They might have even talked to Leinart about the situation before he found out about it on his own. Still, at a certain level, Leinart has to be feeling like he’s playing second fiddle to the man who beat USC in Leinart’s final college game, and who was picked seven spots ahead of the 2004 Heisman winner.
Thus, don’t be surprised if the next agent-related development entails Leinart leaving CAA and hiring a new firm.