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NFL Draft Day 1 Notes – CAA In The Money

NFL Draft

  • CAA clients Matthew Stafford, Jason Smith, Darrius Heyward-Bey, Knowshon Moreno, Brian Orakpo, Malcolm Jenkins, Brian Cushing, Josh Freeman, and Jeremy Maclin were selected in the first round.  CAA’s nine first round selections beat their 2008 record of six clients picked up in the first-round.  Most impressive about the nine CAA draft picks this year is that they were all taken between picks 1-19.  Talk about some big commissions!  It must have been interesting to be a member of the CAA crew when it had four of its clients picked in a row (12-15, starting with Moreno and ending with Cushing).
  • It looks like Andre Smith might have received a nice boost by switching agents.  For the past few months, Andre was the talk of the town, for all the wrong reasons.  Days before the draft, he switched from GMG Sports to Priority Sports and made his way back into being a top ten pick (going to the Bengals at #6).  Maybe the Bengals had their eyes on him all along.  We will never know, but this will definitely help Priority land clients in the future and will undoubtedly be used against Alvin Keels and GMG Sports.
  • Before the draft, I mentioned that CAA had a remote possibility of having 11 of its clients selected in the first round; 9 is nothing to complain about.  I also said that Octagon, BEST, Athletes First, and FAAM had the best chance at being runner-up.  It looks like that honor will go to Athletes First.  The company had 5 clients taken in the first-round: Mark Sanchez, B.J. Raji, Clay Matthews, Donald Brown, and Eric Wood.  Interestingly, Matthews, Brown, and Wood were all taken in a row as well (26-28).
  • Third place in first-round selections is a tie between Octagon and FAAM (both had 3 selections).  FAAM was helped by the early selection of Kenny Britt by the Titans at #30.  Six WRs were taken in the first round this year after none were taken in the 1st last year.  Octagon’s Cutty, Pettigrew, and Hood make up the company’s 3 clients selected in the 1st.
  • BEST, Maxximum Sports, and BC Sports followed up the pack by having two clients each taken in the 1st.  BEST was happy that Percy did not slip to the 2nd after the failed drug test, BC Sports had both of its clients go back to back (and they both went to the same school – Ole Miss), and Maxximum Sports had both of its guys go top 10 (Tyson Jackson and Michael Crabtree).
  • Last, Al Davis loves speed.  Go find next year’s track star and call Oakland’s front office on Monday 🙂

By Darren Heitner

Darren Adam Heitner, Esq., is a preeminent sports attorney and the founder of Heitner Legal, P.L.L.C., a Fort Lauderdale-based law firm specializing in sports law, contract negotiations, intellectual property, and arbitration. He earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Florida Levin College of Law in 2010 and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, magna cum laude, from the University of Florida in 2007, where he was named Valedictorian of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Admitted to practice in the state bars of Florida, New York, and the District of Columbia, as well as multiple federal courts, Darren also serves as a certified arbitrator with the American Arbitration Association.

As an adjunct professor, Darren imparts his expertise through teaching Sports Law at the University of Florida Levin College of Law and Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) at the University of Miami School of Law in the Entertainment, Arts, and Sports Law LL.M. program. His scholarly contributions include authoring several books published by the American Bar Association, such as How to Play the Game: What Every Sports Attorney Needs to Know, and numerous articles in prominent publications like Forbes, Inc. Magazine, and Above the Law. His thought leadership in NIL has earned him recognition as one of the foremost experts by The Wall Street Journal, USA TODAY, and On3, and he has been lauded as a “power player in NIL deals” by Action Network and a “top sports trademark attorney” by Sportico.

Darren’s passion for sports law led him to establish Sports Agent Blog on December 31, 2005, initially titled “I Want To Be A Sports Agent.” The platform, created as a New Year’s resolution, has grown into a cornerstone of the sports agency community, offering in-depth analysis of industry trends, legal disputes, and agent-player dynamics. His commitment to the field is further evidenced by his representation of numerous athletes and sports agents, as well as his prior role as an Adjunct Professor at Indiana University Bloomington, where he developed and taught a course on Sport Agency Management from 2011 to 2014.

Darren’s contributions have been recognized with prestigious honors, including the University of Florida’s 40 Under 40 Award, the University of Florida Levin College of Law’s Outstanding Young Alumnus Award, and designation as the best lawyer in Fort Lauderdale by Fort Lauderdale Magazine. He remains an active voice in the sports law community, sharing insights through his weekly NIL newsletter and his X posts, engaging a broad audience on legal developments in sports.

2 replies on “NFL Draft Day 1 Notes – CAA In The Money”

Great post. Thanks. Any chance that your clients from Akron get drafted today? If not, have you talked to any teams about them possibly bringing your guys in at training camp as a free agent? If the NFL does not work out, what are some options for players? I read that scout.com article – does that guy get information that you don’t already have (that is, is it easier for him to get that information from teams than you or have you contacted all 32 teams)? Thanks.

There is definitely a chance that our clients from Akron get drafted. And yes, Matthew has been in contact with many interested teams for a while now. Matthew will be working the phones all day today. We already knew the information from the Scout.com article.

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