On To The Next One: Shawne Merriman & Vince Young

We always hear about NFL players firing their agents for guys like Drew Rosenhaus and Tom Condon, but it is rarely reported when big name agents lose a client.  The main reason for that, though, is that it is a rare occurrence that RSR or CAA has a football client leave them for a rival agency.  Unfortunately for Condon and CAA, they just had a three-time Pro Bowl selection named Shawne Merriman switch to David Dunn and Athletes First.

As stated, Merriman has been invited to the Pro Bowl three times in his career.  The bad news, is that the last time he received an invite was in 2007.  Over the past two years, Merriman has only racked up a combined four sacks.  Merriman, still believing that he is one of the best pass rushers in the league, was likely upset that Condon and CAA were unable to get him a long term contract.  As of right now, Merriman is still unsigned as a restricted free agent.

Will David Dunn save the day?  Interestingly, Dunn may have some problems on his hands with the addition of Merriman.  Mike Florio brings up the point that Merriman might have fired CAA and hired Athletes First within a 5 day period, which is not permitted by the NFLPA regulations (must wait 5 days before hiring a new agent).  But this is all under the assumption that Merriman recently fired Condon.  It could have happened over a week ago, and just wasn’t reported.

So Condon says goodbye to Merriman, but hello to Vince Young, who joins CAA after leaving Major Adams.  Amazing to think that Vince is still on his Rookie deal.  It sure has been a roller-coaster for him so far, but perhaps CAA has more upside with Young than with Merriman.