49ers CB Tarell Brown hires a new agent

Late last week, San Francisco 49ers cornerback Tarell Brown fired his previous agent when, unbeknownst to him, a $2 million base salary escalator in his contract was voided when he did not participate in the team's voluntary workout program this offseason.

Six days later, Brown has a new agent. According to Liz Mullen of the SportsBusiness Journal, the seventh-year cornerback has hired Joel Segal of Lagardere Unlimited.

Brown is currently scheduled to earn $925,000 in base salary, but 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh has hinted that the team is going to work with Brown and his new agent to resolve the situation.

"He got hit by, that’s a real torpedo," Harbaugh said of Brown on Sunday. "But, he’s been very professional. And the thing I think for all of us is finding the solution. There’s a solution there. And soon that we all put our minds together and come up with the right plan, this will hopefully get to the point where you laugh about that and chuckle about that. That’s the way I’d like to see it go."

After playing in a reserve role for the first four seasons of his career, Brown, a 2007 fifth-round pick out of Texas, has emerged as a starter over the last two seasons. Brown has 97 tackles, six interceptions and 29 passes defensed while playing in 98.3 percent of the 49ers' 2,074 defensive snaps between the 2011 and 2012 regular seasons. In five playoff games, Brown has a pair of interceptions and will likely be one of the team's two starting cornerbacks this season and beyond, provided an extension can be worked out.

Another potential long-term starter at cornerback for the 49ers is Chris Culliver, which creates a rather interesting situation in the team's defensive backfield as Culliver hired Segal to represent him earlier this offseason.