As of Saturday, a source with knowledge of the official NFLPA document listing the signing status of draft picks told PFT that the item listed no agent for Rams defensive end Robert Quinn. But Quinn has, per multiple reports, agreed to terms with the Rams.
So who negotiated the deal?
Liz Mullen of SportsBusiness Journal reports that Tony Fleming of Impact Sports worked with the Rams to get Quinn signed. The development comes only days after Fleming’s colleague, Mitch Frankel, told Mullen that Impact Sports hadn’t signed Quinn as a client -- even though Quinn’s former agent had sued Impact Sports, alleging that Fleming and Frankel stole Quinn away.
Carl Carey had filed with his lawsuit a motion for a temporary restraining order that would have prevented Impact Sports from negotiating the deal. If the TRO was issued, it apparently has since been lifted.
Moving forward, this one could get interesting. Because the NFLPA wasn’t a union at the time the suit was filed, and thus not authorized to regulate agents, agents were able to rely on the court system if/when other agents induced a client to break his representation contract.