In response to our lengthy (i.e., boring) item from Monday afternoon regarding the still-simmering conflict of interest issue for agents of draft-eligible clients and the treatment that the topic received in this week’s SportsBusiness Journal, a league source has pointed out to us another curious dynamic that has been unfolding this offseason as to a few of the veteran clients of the agency that was the subject of the SBJ piece.

CAA represents the following trio of tailbacks:  Julius Jones, Shaun Alexander, and Deuce McAllister.  Jones (who is represented by Ken Kremer of CAA) hit the free-agent market in March, and ultimately signed with the Seattle Seahawks.  This move displaced Alexander (who is represented by Jim Steiner of CAA) from the roster. 

And now Alexander will be visiting the Saints.  If he signs there, it likely will result in the release of McAllister, who is represented by Ben Dogra of CAA.

Though Dogra might contend in response to this chain of events that the agents can’t influence the process, they surely can.  Because once word broke on Monday of the Saints’ interest in McAllister, Dogra should have been on the phone immediately to take the temperature of the team as to whether the team is ready to drop Deuce — and to commence the process of persuading them not to.

In the end, the Saints might not be influenced by Dogra’s assessment that Alexander is a washed-up has-been, who as a SportingNews.com commenter noted recently runs like he doesn’t want to get his prom dress dirty.

That specific comment made its way into the page of the Sporting News magazine, and we know of more than a few agents who would have scanned the page on which the comment appears and sent it to the Saints’ front office.  

But how can Dogra do that?  Dogra’s firm represents Alexander, too.  As a result, Dogra now must sit on his hands and say or do nothing that might directly or indirectly constitute an effort to bad-mouth Alexander.  To the detriment of McAllister.

There’s no easy way to remedy the problem, especially in this era of free agency, with players constantly changing teams.  Large agencies will, from time to time, encounter delicate situations like this.

But the fact that such situations are inevitable doesn’t mean they should be ignored.  It’s incumbent on the NFL Players Association to come up with clear rules aimed at protecting the interests of the players who won’t have the benefit of an agent who can and will fight like hell for the individual interests when two of them are represented by the same firm — and are vying for the same job.