Atlanta/PHI tampering resolution announced, p.7

[TitanLegend]

31 minutes ago, adamq said:

The reasoning is that all 32 teams should be on the same playing field in terms of negotiating with  FAs. If one team follows the rules & doesn't call an agent until the tampering period opens, they are at a disadvantage compared to the team that fully negotiates a contract 2 weeks ahead of time. & if proven that a team (Atlanta) started talking with a player still under contract (Cousins), the punishment should be severe. I don't know if this happened, just sayin'

When do contracts technically end? After the super bowl? 

I know that's the intention of the rule. But all 32 teams would have the same start point if they were allowed to start discussions immediately after the season ended too.

I believe the start of the league year is when contracts end but I could be wrong.

21 minutes ago, ninjapirate said:

Kirk cousins was looking for houses in the Atlanta area weeks before free agency started they 100 percent tampered. 

Not saying they didn't "tamper", just saying the rule is dumb.

[minutemancl]

27 minutes ago, ninjapirate said:

James Franklin isn't a reliable source 

That's what this "investigation" is supposed to determine, right? But even if he just misspoke, talking to the media and flubbing enough to get an NFL team under investigation is probably enough to cut contact lol.

[AZ_Eaglesfan]

5 hours ago, minutemancl said:

Yes, but normally, all 32 teams are discreet enough to get away with it. This year, only 30/32 were. You have to at least have the guise of competitive balance rules and everyone following them.

James Franklin is getting his contact information removed from every member of the Eagles FO though, that is for sure.

Except like what did the Eagles do wrong if they did tamper lol? Like the only reason Franklin even said anything was because he personally talked with Barkley and he apparently told him he was talking with Howie or something.... and Franklin then decides to open his mouth in an attempt to seem important. 

It's just all so silly. The Bears signing Swift and Edwards in back to back years within 10 minutes of FA opening up isn't a more clear sign of tampering than James Franklin being a moron? Are we being serious right now?

If everyone is tampering... and everyone knows everyone is tampering(which they do).... they need to change the rules or just stop enforcing them.

Edited April 22 by AZ_Eaglesfan

[sparky151]

1 hour ago, adamq said:

The reasoning is that all 32 teams should be on the same playing field in terms of negotiating with  FAs. If one team follows the rules & doesn't call an agent until the tampering period opens, they are at a disadvantage compared to the team that fully negotiates a contract 2 weeks ahead of time. & if proven that a team (Atlanta) started talking with a player still under contract (Cousins), the punishment should be severe. I don't know if this happened, just sayin'

When do contracts technically end? After the super bowl? 

Contracts end with the start of the new league year in March. The final week of the outgoing league year is known as the "legal tampering period" because teams can then negotiate with the agents for players who are still under contract with another team. But teams aren't supposed to talk to the player himself though. The intent of the rule is to give teams from the end of their season until the week before the new league year an exclusive negotiating period to re-sign their players. That's why they get upset if some other team is encroaching on their exclusive rights during that time. 

[SodeeWater_Cheezburger]

1 hour ago, ninjapirate said:

Kirk cousins was looking for houses in the Atlanta area weeks before free agency started they 100 percent tampered. 

Vikings fans, correct me if I'm wrong on this, but I thought I heard that it was Kirko Chains himself who spilled the beans on the whole thing.  He supposedly said on a news show that he had been talking with the Falcons before the date that it was legal to do so.

[N4L]

35 minutes ago, SodeeWater_Cheezburger said:

Vikings fans, correct me if I'm wrong on this, but I thought I heard that it was Kirko Chains himself who spilled the beans on the whole thing.  He supposedly said on a news show that he had been talking with the Falcons before the date that it was legal to do so.

He said that he talked to a trainer during the legal tampering period. You arent supposed to talk to support staff or anyone outside of the FO during the legal tampering period. 

[Ryan_W]

that 

1 hour ago, sparky151 said:

The intent of the rule is to give teams from the end of their season until the week before the new league year an exclusive negotiating period to re-sign their players. That's why they get upset if some other team is encroaching on their exclusive rights during that time. 

players bargaining association would have definitely signed off on teams offering exclusive 'home team discounts' to cash strapped players without letting them get a glimpse of other offers

[SWATcha]

I approve of the Falcons losing a 1st. And a 2nd. They should probably forfeit their 3rd too just to be safe. Throw the book at these dirty heathens Roger! Throw the kitchen sink at em too! And granny's walker while you're at it! How dare these Falcons sully the shining reputation of this great league. 

(Kind of dumb, but if you're going to be dumb, be smart about being dumb. Rules are rules and all that)

[scar988]

6 hours ago, vike daddy said:

It seems unlikely that the league will hand out a punishment for this year’s draft unless they’re taking the unusual measure of enforcing a pick swap with the Minnesota Vikings, the team ostensibly wronged by Atlanta’s early contact. A flip from No. 8 to No. 11 would give Minnesota a better chance of getting their quarterback of the future without causing grievous harm to Atlanta’s draft plans, but it seems doubtful the NFL would blow up this year’s draft planning for one or more franchises with less than a week to go until the draft actually starts. More than likely, Atlanta will lose a selection or two in the 2025 NFL Draft.

https://www.thefalcoholic.com/2024/4/22/24137041/falcons-expected-to-see-significant-penalty-for-kirk-cousins-tampering-per-adam-schefter

I think most likely is a 2025 punishment. Probably nothing more than a 6th for the Falcons and 7th for the Eagles.

5 hours ago, adamq said:

If Miami lost a 1st for the Brady debacle, so should Atlanta

Miami spoke directly to Brady while he was under contract with another team before the Patriots even considered releasing him. Not the same. 

 

Kirk was a free agent talking during the LEGAL tampering period with the Falcons. And it's something that happens league wide. He talked with a medical trainer. 

4 hours ago, adamq said:

The reasoning is that all 32 teams should be on the same playing field in terms of negotiating with  FAs. If one team follows the rules & doesn't call an agent until the tampering period opens, they are at a disadvantage compared to the team that fully negotiates a contract 2 weeks ahead of time. & if proven that a team (Atlanta) started talking with a player still under contract (Cousins), the punishment should be severe. I don't know if this happened, just sayin'

When do contracts technically end? After the super bowl? 

The Falcons called the agent at 12:01. If anyone did anything before the end of the tampering period, it could have been Kyle Pitts who called Kirk telling him to come to Atlanta. But I doubt that is even factored in. Players tell each other to head to different teams all the time.

4 hours ago, ninjapirate said:

Kirk cousins was looking for houses in the Atlanta area weeks before free agency started they 100 percent tampered. 

He was doing that regardless. Matt Stafford has lived in Atlanta his whole career. That's not proof of anything. Kirk's wife is from John's Creek and he wanted to move to be closer to her family.

2 hours ago, N4L said:

He said that he talked to a trainer during the legal tampering period. You arent supposed to talk to support staff or anyone outside of the FO during the legal tampering period. 

That and the PR guy. And I think it was just for the logistics of the press conference did he talk to the PR guy. I don't get why talking to team staff AFTER you agreed to terms on the deal is such a big deal in the first place. Because literally every team does it with their FAs.

[adamq]

22 minutes ago, scar988 said:

Kirk was a free agent talking during the LEGAL tampering period with the Falcons. And it's something that happens league wide. He talked with a medical trainer. 

If that's the case then there shouldn't be punishment. But if the league finds out ATL was talking with Cousins before the tampering period, then there is no difference to me. A team talked with another team's QB when he was technically under contract.. 

 

Edit- I see that agents are allowed to talk with teams during the tampering period, not players. In that case this is all really dumb.

But again if they find out Cousins talked with ATL pre-tampering week then lay down the hammer

Edited April 22 by adamq

[scar988]

8 minutes ago, adamq said:

If that's the case then there shouldn't be punishment. But if the league finds out ATL was talking with Cousins before the tampering period, then there is no difference to me. A team talked with another team's QB when he was technically under contract.. 

 

Edit- I see that agents are allowed to talk with teams during the tampering period, not players. In that case this is all really dumb.

But again if they find out Cousins talked with ATL pre-tampering week then lay down the hammer

It's all really dumb. Cousins talked with the training staff. He talked with the PR lady. What happened there is no different than what literally any other team does after they agree to terms.

[scar988]

3 hours ago, SodeeWater_Cheezburger said:

Vikings fans, correct me if I'm wrong on this, but I thought I heard that it was Kirko Chains himself who spilled the beans on the whole thing.  He supposedly said on a news show that he had been talking with the Falcons before the date that it was legal to do so.

Not true at all. He spoke with his agent about Atlanta being one of the teams to target for his move. Falcons didn't talk with his agent until the day legal tampering started.

3 hours ago, sparky151 said:

Contracts end with the start of the new league year in March. The final week of the outgoing league year is known as the "legal tampering period" because teams can then negotiate with the agents for players who are still under contract with another team. But teams aren't supposed to talk to the player himself though. The intent of the rule is to give teams from the end of their season until the week before the new league year an exclusive negotiating period to re-sign their players. That's why they get upset if some other team is encroaching on their exclusive rights during that time. 

Except in this case, the Vikings had already told Cousins that they weren't going to re-sign him for more than 1 year. And they had agreed to part ways at that point. So, in the spirit of the rule, nothing wrong happened here. It's a small technicality that they violated. 

[tyler735]

“the turnovers weren’t his fault”

“the tampering wasn’t breaking the rules”

[sparky151]

1 hour ago, scar988 said:

Not true at all. He spoke with his agent about Atlanta being one of the teams to target for his move. Falcons didn't talk with his agent until the day legal tampering started.

Except in this case, the Vikings had already told Cousins that they weren't going to re-sign him for more than 1 year. And they had agreed to part ways at that point. So, in the spirit of the rule, nothing wrong happened here. It's a small technicality that they violated. 

 

That's not very convincing. Pitts was recruiting Cousins for weeks and Cousins turned around and recruited Mooney before the tampering period opened. Minnesota was offering Cousins a contract that wasn't appealing to him but nobody was supposed to be making a counteroffer at that point. 

 

Let's face it, the Falcons were caught with their hands in the cookie jar. Based on precedents ranging from Jeremy Maclin to Tom Brady, the Falcons are likely to lose a draft pick and perhaps the Vikings gain one. I doubt they swap picks 8 and 11 because the teams in between might complain, but exchanging 2025 picks is very much on the table. 

[scar988]

On Sports Center, Adam Schefter talks about the Kirk Cousins #Falcons tampering issue he had reported on earlier today. Adam says the contract was already in place and agreed upon when Cousins had made contact with staff members in Atlanta but “the league does what the league wants to do.”