Why did the Arizona Cardinals and Philadelphia Eagles reach a settlement over Jonathan Gannon?
With the 2023 NFL Draft now in full swing, we’ve already seen some surprises, not the least of which is the settlement between Philly and Arizona due to tampering.
It may be that it’s the Cardinals’ new coach who has to eat his words, after his team was implicated in a tampering situation involving his former team and last year’s Super Bowl runner ups, the Philadelphia Eagles.
Cardinals & Eagles settle over Jonathan Gannon tampering
There’s a curious scenario which has played out between the Arizona Cardinals and the Philadelphia Eagles on the opening night of the 2023 NFL Draft. Indeed, new Cardinals coach Jonathan Gannon has found himself at the center of a settlement between his team and the team for which he previously served as defensive coordinator. According to reports, the agreement was born out of indications that Arizona tampered with Gannon during the hiring process. This of course only adds an element of irony to the situation, given that Gannon recently joked about how hard his time was in Philly.
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“The Cardinals self-reported to the National Football League that general manager Monti Ossenfort had a phone conversation with then-Eagles defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon in the days following the NFC Championship Game,” the Eagles said in a statement on Thursday. To be clear, teams are not permitted to contact potential head coaching hires during this period.
What did the Eagles get from the Cardinals?
As per reports, the Eagles have now received the Cardinals’ 2023 third-round draft pick (No. 66 overall) in exchange for Philadelphia’s third-round pick (No. 94) as well as a 2024 fifth-rounder. This of course means, that Philly now has a credible seven picks in total in this year’s draft. Of course, one of those has already been spent on the more than impressive Jalen Carter who was selected with the No. 9 overall pick out of Georgia.