Atlanta/PHI tampering resolution announced, p.7

[N4L]

2 hours ago, scar988 said:

4 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.

I agree. If that is the only violation, then this is really lame. 

If there is more to it, IE ATL prevented MIN from signing kirk prior to the legal tampering period, then it is more serious, but ultimately, I am of the mind Kirk was always going to test FA. The timing of the contact, to me, is irrelevant, especially when you consider what Kirk has said about his ties to Georgia/ATL. 

[scar988]

1 minute ago, sparky151 said:

 

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. 

Pitts is a player, what he does is irrelevant to tampering. Players talk to other players all the time.

Cousins and Mooney happened while Mooney was already in discussions with the Falcons on a deal and after the tampering period opened. Also, player talking to player.

Minnesota and Cousins had already moved on by 12:01 on that monday. Falcons didn't call until 12:01 on that monday and had a deal done by 2:30. Not like contracts are that hard to figure out. This isn't some egregious thing. It's a technicality.

[scar988]

1 minute ago, N4L said:

I agree. If that is the only violation, then this is really lame. 

If there is more to it, IE ATL prevented MIN from signing kirk prior to the legal tampering period, then it is more serious, but ultimately, I am of the mind Kirk was always going to test FA. The timing of the contact, to me, is irrelevant, especially when you consider what Kirk has said about his ties to Georgia/ATL. 

The timing of the contact being after he already agreed to terms and then talked to the training staff and PR guy is what's being investigated. And considering how minor that all is considering he had already had the verbal agreement done, the rest of it is irrelevant stuff and a technicality.

[N4L]

1 minute ago, scar988 said:

The timing of the contact being after he already agreed to terms and then talked to the training staff and PR guy is what's being investigated. And considering how minor that all is considering he had already had the verbal agreement done, the rest of it is irrelevant stuff and a technicality.

I get your point and I agree completely, but the NFL probably still views it as a rules violation and favors the illusion of fairness more than fairness itself, which is why there will be some sort of punishment for ATL. I would guess ATL loses a 5th or 6th round pick. Whether or not they should is a different story. 

[sparky151]

4 minutes ago, scar988 said:

Pitts is a player, what he does is irrelevant to tampering. Players talk to other players all the time.

Cousins and Mooney happened while Mooney was already in discussions with the Falcons on a deal and after the tampering period opened. Also, player talking to player.

Minnesota and Cousins had already moved on by 12:01 on that monday. Falcons didn't call until 12:01 on that monday and had a deal done by 2:30. Not like contracts are that hard to figure out. This isn't some egregious thing. It's a technicality.

Pitts is an employee of the Falcons, same as McKay or Morris. It would require an investigation to find out whether Pitts was acting on his own behalf or that of the team. If his phone records show calls between him and the front office prior to calls to Cousins, that's not good for Atlanta. 

Does anyone believe that Cousins was recruited and negotiated a contact in 2.5 hours? That doesn't pass the laugh test. Teams recruit top free agents and have them in for visits and take them to dinner. The negotiating can be done quickly if both parties are willing but Cousins would want to know what's behind the door before signing, even if the terms were amenable. That requires a long conversation with the coaches and front office. 

 

[AZ_Eaglesfan]

3 minutes ago, sparky151 said:

Pitts is an employee of the Falcons, same as McKay or Morris. It would require an investigation to find out whether Pitts was acting on his own behalf or that of the team. If his phone records show calls between him and the front office prior to calls to Cousins, that's not good for Atlanta. 

Does anyone believe that Cousins was recruited and negotiated a contact in 2.5 hours? That doesn't pass the laugh test. Teams recruit top free agents and have them in for visits and take them to dinner. The negotiating can be done quickly if both parties are willing but Cousins would want to know what's behind the door before signing, even if the terms were amenable. That requires a long conversation with the coaches and front office. 

 

Players recruiting other players definitionally does not fall under tampering in the NFL lol.

[scar988]

8 minutes ago, AZ_Eaglesfan said:

Players recruiting other players definitionally does not fall under tampering in the NFL lol.

Thank you. 

13 minutes ago, sparky151 said:

Pitts is an employee of the Falcons, same as McKay or Morris. It would require an investigation to find out whether Pitts was acting on his own behalf or that of the team. If his phone records show calls between him and the front office prior to calls to Cousins, that's not good for Atlanta. 

Does anyone believe that Cousins was recruited and negotiated a contact in 2.5 hours? That doesn't pass the laugh test. Teams recruit top free agents and have them in for visits and take them to dinner. The negotiating can be done quickly if both parties are willing but Cousins would want to know what's behind the door before signing, even if the terms were amenable. That requires a long conversation with the coaches and front office. 

 

Not how that works. And it’s not like Cousins hasn’t spent every offseason for the last decade in Atlanta with his wife’s family or anything. Oh wait. He has. He knows this organizations because he’s friends with guys like Matt Ryan. He knows how they operate. He knows how guys like Fontenot and Blank are because his friends on the Falcons have told him. It’s not like it was some surprise. And it’s super easy to negotiate a contract in 2 hours if the goal is “we want you, you want to be here. Let’s get it done”. 

14 minutes ago, N4L said:

I get your point and I agree completely, but the NFL probably still views it as a rules violation and favors the illusion of fairness more than fairness itself, which is why there will be some sort of punishment for ATL. I would guess ATL loses a 5th or 6th round pick. Whether or not they should is a different story. 

Which is what I’ve been saying this whole time. They at most lose a 5th. If it’s more than that, I’ll be shocked. 

[sparky151]

15 minutes ago, AZ_Eaglesfan said:

Players recruiting other players definitionally does not fall under tampering in the NFL lol.

 

Players are free to speak with other players. It used to be common at the pro bowl for players to recruit impending free agents. But if they are doing so with the knowledge or even the encouragement of team management, then it's tampering. What teams are prohibited from doing directly, they are also prohibited from doing indirectly. Florio has been ranting about it for more than a month now. 

 

 

[AZ_Eaglesfan]

1 minute ago, sparky151 said:

 

Players are free to speak with other players. It used to be common at the pro bowl for players to recruit impending free agents. But if they are doing so with the knowledge or even the encouragement of team management, then it's tampering. What teams are prohibited from doing directly, they are also prohibited from doing indirectly. Florio has been ranting about it for more than a month now. 

 

 

But what exactly does any of this have to do with what the Falcons have been accused of? lol.

This all started because Kirk said something about talking to the Falcons' staff. There is no reason to just assume or even speculate that Pitts was working as a proxy for their front office. This is so irrelevant.

[scar988]

4 minutes ago, AZ_Eaglesfan said:

But what exactly does any of this have to do with what the Falcons have been accused of? lol.

This all started because Kirk said something about talking to the Falcons' staff. There is no reason to just assume or even speculate that Pitts was working as a proxy for their front office. This is so irrelevant.

That part isn’t even being investigated 

9 minutes ago, sparky151 said:

 

Players are free to speak with other players. It used to be common at the pro bowl for players to recruit impending free agents. But if they are doing so with the knowledge or even the encouragement of team management, then it's tampering. What teams are prohibited from doing directly, they are also prohibited from doing indirectly. Florio has been ranting about it for more than a month now. 

 

 

Florio is a Vikings fan and has always ripped on the Falcons in some way or another. He’s a giant piece of **** who puts out bad info all the time too. 

[Folesadelphia]

11 minutes ago, scar988 said:

That part isn’t even being investigated 

Florio is a Vikings fan and has always ripped on the Falcons in some way or another. He’s a giant piece of **** who puts out bad info all the time too. 

Florio is awful. He looks like a 5 year old with an aging filter on.

[SodeeWater_Cheezburger]

11 hours ago, scar988 said:

That part isn’t even being investigated 

Florio is a Vikings fan and has always ripped on the Falcons in some way or another. He’s a giant piece of **** who puts out bad info all the time too. 

I wonder if he is still mad about the Dirty Birds beating the Vikings in the '98 NFCCG?

[SteelKing728]

13 hours ago, scar988 said:

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.”

We'll take your entire draft then and settle it then. 

Thanks Kirko Chainz!

[Raves]

So can we call the Falcons one "CousinsGate"?  It just seems fitting.

[viking]

NFL needs to set a new precedent when it comes to tampering

 

Option A: you get a hefty punishment via a docked draft pick

Option B: you get a lower punishment via pick swaps with the team that you tampered against