Good article this morning from Atlanta Journal-Constitution sportswriter D. Orlando Ledbetter, who covers the Atlanta Falcons beat, on the preparedness of Atlanta-area NFL agents for a potentially work stoppage in 2011:

Agents, whether they are from big firms, mid-size firms or represent only one player, have braced for a lockout.

While there will be a draft next year, the league could come to a halt in March if management and the NFLPA are not able to reach a deal on a new collective bargaining agreement.

"We made sure that each client has had an opportunity to make an assessment of their financial status," Kevin Conner (of Universal Sports Management) said. "We had them meet with their financial advisers to make sure that the year without income is well-planned in case the money doesn't flow for that year."

The agents have to brace their firms for what could be a financial disaster for some.

Ledbetter also has quotes from Enter-Sports' Hadley Engelhard, Todd France of France AllPro Athlete Management, and Pat Dye of ProFile Sports on the status of their companies, labor talks, and an overhaul to the rookie compensation system.

That last issue, the "critical" rookie wage scale, could be a death blow to small and mid-size agencies. It costs a lot of up-front money to train, house, and meet the ever-increasing demands players projected to go in the first- and second-round have. Smaller agencies may struggle to compete with the heavyweights of the industry, whose client rosters will only grow larger with each draft class.

Unless the NFL allows rookies to hit unrestricted free agency sooner, as in after the third season (i.e., no franchise/transition tags or restricted fee agency), the existing rookie wage scale, and rookie pool limiting first-year compensation, should be left alone.