Interesting post from Tom over at Residual Prolixity (which I arrived at via the indispensable Smart Football) where he riffs on this post from Jack Bechta of the National Football Post.

First, from Bechta:

There is also a growing concern and frustration among general managers about one large agency that’s working at its own pace and disregarding camp opening dates. Four GMs and three team negotiators I’ve spoken to over the past seven days have told me that this firm is dictating its own timetable for getting deals done based on the order of draft picks they represent and the location of those picks in the first round. I’m being told that there’s no sense of urgency from this firm and that it won’t start talking seriously until camps open. My problem is that this strategy is not openly disclosed to players when they sign with the firm. The deals will ultimately get done, as they always do, but players may miss a week or more that they don’t have to.

And Tom's take:

...there's only one real candidate that fits Bechta's criteria, and that's CAA. Plenty of picks, forcing teams to go in order is quite possible, and enough range and volume to drive the market. Athlete's First doesn't have the middle-weight strength to be a player, and Todd France and Octagon don't have the depth. Plus, the top heavy nature of CAA means they can wait for the later first round picks to sign and then set their own market. So far, the only top 20 picks to sign are the two quarterbacks, so those are some very pleasant deals to do year-to-year comps off of. So, if your team's first round pick doesn't make it to camp on time, blame CAA.

It's alarming and all too plausible.