I'm not sure how much Carey was involved with his contract. You can be an agent....but not a lawyer.
And wasn't Carr represented by Burns & Levinson? Not too shabby a law firm.
If Carey was involved in signing the original contract, he gets credit, because it was a monster deal and Howie became very wealthy with that contract.
And as far as the non-competes go....this is (was?) new territory in law, and there were no precedent cases to go by. All it took was one judge to decide what the law meant.
I've been hearing people say that "non-competes are illegal"....and I usually respond..."not exactly."
(BTW...If Carey was involved with the Howie syndication deal, I'm sure he can still help put together a network if Howie chooses to self-syndicate. Carey knows many of the players involved and the stations involved.)