Reports: NFL Looking Into Falcons For Tampering in Kirk Cousins Signing

This is apparently just a standard procedure, but it's still noteworthy.

Author:
Will Ragatz
Publish date:
Mar 14, 2024 12:43 PM EDT

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The NFL is looking into potential tampering in the Falcons' signing of Kirk Cousins, as well as the Eagles' signing of Saquon Barkley, according to multiple reports. This is apparently just standard procedure, but it's noteworthy nonetheless.

The league's "legal tampering" period opened at 11 a.m. central time on Monday. Prior to that point, teams entering into contact with pending free agents is against the rules. It obviously happens anyways, especially over late-night drinks at the combine in Indianapolis, which is fine as long as you don't publicly admit it or otherwise get caught in the act.

Did Cousins accidentally burn the Falcons during his introductory press conference in Atlanta on Wednesday evening? Mike Florio at ProFootballTalk wrote a story suggesting that he did.

During his introductory press conference, Cousins inadvertently said the quiet part out loud. He admitted that he spoke to the team’s head athletic trainer on Tuesday, after apparently starting to say that he actually met with him.
“There’s great people here,” Cousins said. “And it’s not just the football team. I mean, I’m looking at the support staff. Meeting — calling, yesterday, calling our head athletic trainer, talking to our head of P.R. I’m thinking, we got good people here. And that’s exciting to be a part of.”
League rules do not allow that. While it often happens, it rarely comes to light so clearly. It’s exactly the kind of thing that could get the league to mobilize, even though it typically looks the other way when it comes to tampering.

It'll be interesting to see if the league looks the other way in this case, or if Cousins' remarks lead to punishment for the Falcons. Even though every team tampers, you're not supposed to talk about it. A dream scenario for the Vikings would be that they benefit somehow — say, the league decides to swap the teams' first-round picks — but that seems unlikely.

The most notable thing Cousins said during his Falcons presser was that he felt things had been trending year-to-year with the Vikings over the past couple seasons, and he feels like this four-year deal with the Falcons will allow him to retire with Atlanta if he plays at the level he expects to.