Will there be punishments for Eagles and Falcons in the 2024 NFL Draft for potentially tampering?
The league will continue its investigation into the signings of quarterback Kirk Cousins and running back Saquon Barkley.
The NFL are investigating the supposed tampering of the Atlanta Falcons with Kirk Cousins and the Philadelphia Eagles with Saquon Barkley outside of the legal period.
As it stands, given the evidence on the table, things don’t look great for either side. Here’s the story of what happened, as well as if the two sides are going to be punished at this year’s 2024 NFL Draft.
The Falcons (8th in the Draft order) are under investigation for bringing Cousins in on a four-year, $180 million contract after the quarterback ended his time at the Minnesota Vikings. The four-time Pro Bowler, who suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon and is still recovering, revealed during his introductory press conference that he spoke with Atlanta’s athletic trainer before negotiations were allowed.
In the case of the Eagles (22nd in the Draft order), the signing of Barkley for three seasons in exchange for $37.75 million caught the attention of league authorities: Penn State head coach James Franklin said back in March that Eagles general manager Howie Roseman made a direct pitch to the player during the legal tampering period, which is a big no-no.
What is 'tampering'?
Tampering occurs when a franchise reaches out to a player that actively has a contract with another team. These chats are defined as “impermissible communications” by the league and carry serious consequences. Most of the time tampering happens with a player or coach who are near the end of a contract.
'Legal tampering' is a permitted period of negotiations between teams and free agents ahead of the opening of the Free Agency period. The legal tampering period normally lasts just over a couple of days, around 52 hours, before the Free Agency curtain is raised.
Will the two sides receive any sanctions during the 2024 NFL Draft?
Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio said earlier in the week, when the news broke, that things look particularly bad for the Falcons, whose potential punishment for breaking the tampering rules is “expected to be more severe” than those of the Eagles.
Specifically, there are key questions as to whether any information exchanged included any medical information about Cousins’ surgically repaired Achilles, something which could land the Falcons in particularly hot water.
However, despite the evidence, the league announced that sanctions, if any, will come after the next Draft.
The league indicated, according to a report by Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero of NFL Network, that its investigation into the signing of the quarterback and running back is still active and will simply not finish in time for the Draft, which commences shortly.
This means that they will not be able to punish the teams during the current recruitment process and any potential sanctions will have repercussions on the 2025 draft. Atlanta and Philadelphia have both denied the allegations of tampering, but they’ve yet to let off the hook by the NFL.
As for this year’s event, the countdown is already underway with AS USA, where we have the live build-up on the go with our various specialists.