After 2 straight years of lousy drafts for its NFL-headed clients since its 2006 inception, costly CAA Sports finally found that the 3rd time was the charm. Let's not forget that, under the 2-year-old division head Tom Condon's guidance, primo NFL prospects Brady Quinn and Matt Leinart plummeted to No. 22 in 2007 and No. 10 in 2006 respectively, losing many millions of dollars as a result. (Lucky for Quinn, he'd already signed a bunch of endorsement contracts. Not Leinart, who a year later fired CAA.) Today, however, CAA Sports clients were all top draftees: Jake Long went No. 1, Matt Ryan No. 3, and Vernon Gholston No. 6. 2008 NFL Draft story here. But the cost of the operation is staggering: which is why I hear CAA renegotiated with Condon's former boss IMG to keep paying back commissions for only 2 years instead of 3 because it was having money troubles...
Like I said, the NFL Draft is a crapshoot. Though they can be graded right now, it is best to wait for a few years. The likelyhood that these players could be busts becomes very real within the next few years, but there is the same likelyhood that one or all three of them could become stars as well.
Comment by Jessy S. — April 26, 2008 @ 7:03 pm
If they are successful in the NFL, it is just icing on the cake for the agents. All they care about is Jake Long’s $56M with $30M guaranteed.
Comment by David — April 26, 2008 @ 10:14 pm
The potential money man in this is Matt Ryan: Natural leader, All-American Adonis. If he lives up to the hype, he could make as much money as a pitchman as Peyton Manning (heck, CAA would lust for 75% of the endorsement deals that Peyton Manning has).
What benefits Matt is that he has a chance to land the starting job on Day 1. Right now the Falcons have journeymen Mark Redman and Joey Harrington as well as DJ Shockley, who doesn’t have much of a prayer, on the QB depth chart. So becoming an instant starter could raise his profile and put him in demand for endorsement deals.
Brady Quinn appears he’ll be stuck on the bench with the emergence last year of Derek Anderson as the franchise QB. Since the 2009 NFL QB draft class looks weak, Quinn might be traded to somewhere that he can vie for the starting job. Still, another year without much visibility will adversely affect his endorsement deals.
Matt Leinart will be a flop. Gallivanting with that human Petri dish of all sorts of exotic microbes, Paris Hilton, and partying with H-listers like Nick Lachey show where Matt’s preoccupations are. He’s not endeared himself to teammates and not shown devotion necessary to succeed in the NFL, so he won’t amount to much and could be out of the NFL in five years.
Comment by P.J. — April 27, 2008 @ 11:00 am
I’m just bummed I have to start rooting for the dolphins. Long AND Chad Henne? Dang…
Comment by go blue — April 27, 2008 @ 11:03 am
This year is a fluke. CAA just happened to sign guys that teams really wanted. However, the Condons already were questionable as agents to teams because of the pattern of holdouts by their clients. Allegedly, just being signed to Condon can drop your draft stock in most years. Now, with the connection to CAA the question becomes, are these guys interested in actually playing ball or just getting endorsements and going to Hollywood parties? Teams need players who will show up for training camp and practices and want to play.
Comment by football first, hollywood second — April 27, 2008 @ 5:39 pm
David, what I am getting at is long term. If this year’s CAA top three is a total flop, it will not really hurt the agency, but if CAA gets hit with multiple years of busts, the agency is pretty much dead as a whole.
Using an analogy, lets say that the Today Show represents college in terms of executive work. Here we have a boy named Jeff Zucker that did well in his course work. This allows him to be drafted to Network Entertainment President. However he fails the job and is considered a big bust. As far as most draft busts are concerned, they are done after three or four years. Of course, Jeff Zucker is a different story where he fails upward.
As for Matt Leinart, I am not sure he can be considered a flop. He had the unlucky fate by being drafted by the Arizona Cardinals. In the NFL, a quarterback is as good as their supporting players including running back, tight end, wide receivers, and offensive line. I am willing to bet that If we replace Tom Brady with Matt at New England, it wouldn’t make any difference for the Patriots. At this point, Matt Leinart is simply a player that is counting down the days until he leaves for free agency.
Comment by Jessy S. — April 27, 2008 @ 6:10 pm
Jessey - While it might be a bit premature to label Leinart a flop, he hasn’t done a thing to make the teams who passed on him regret their decision. Making the transition from a college stud to successful pro quarterback is one of the most difficult to make in sports and so far Leinart hasn’t given anyone an indication that he’s got either the work ethic or brains to make the leap.
Comment by colinsmith — April 28, 2008 @ 9:08 am
Tom Condon is the best in the business, regardless if he’s at IMG or CAA or whereever else. He is always going to have the top players and, perhaps more importantly when it comes to future endorsement money, the top QBs in the draft. Drafts are truly all crapshots long term, but the guaranteed money is not.
Comment by SJ — April 28, 2008 @ 9:40 am
I know that the guaranteed money isn’t a crapshoot, but if a team selects a player that turns out to be a total bust, that team is out big money. For example, if Jake Long turns out to be a bust, (which isn’t likely because Bill Parcells does his homework draft wise) the Miami Dolphins would be out at least $30 million and would feel burned. The other bust of this draft could be Vernon Gholston who contributed to two Ohio State Big Ten championships, but also contributed to two National Championship game losses.
As for Matt Leinart, I hold to my prediction that he is a great quarterback. He is just counting down to the day he gets to leave the Arizona Cardinals via free agency. There are plenty of teams that would love to have his services. Due to space and time constraints, I am not going to list those teams.
Comment by Jessy S. — April 28, 2008 @ 11:02 am