Atlanta Falcons and Philadelphia Eagles free agent tampering cases have judgment in sight: Report
The case against the Atlanta Falcons and the Philadelphia Eagles for potential tampering is expected to come this week. Earlier it had been reported that it would come during the 2024 NFL Draft but the NFL had denied it. Now, Adam Schefter is reporting that it's imminent.
He wrote:
"A resolution in the alleged free agent tampering cases of the Atlanta Falcons and Philadelphia Eagles is likely to come this week, per league sources."
What are the tampering cases against the Philadelphia Eagles and the Atlanta Falcons, and how is it likely to be resolved?
The tampering charges against the Atlanta Falcons arise from the accusations that they reached out to Kirk Cousins prior to him joining their organization before they were allowed to.
The charges there are more concrete given past statements by the player and the NFL could be looking at correspondences like phone records, chat history, email transcripts, to name a few.
The Philadelphia Eagles case relates to Saquon Barkley. The running back joined the team from divisional rivals, the New York Giants. It was later claimed by Penn State coach, James Franklin, that Philadelphia general manager Howie Roseman had sold the player on the deal by pointing out that the Eagles fanbase overlaps with the Nittany Lions to a significant degree. Whether that was done during the period when no teams could have contacted him is what is being investigated.
We have seen teams being penalized for tampering before with the loss of draft picks being one of the commissioner's disciplinary actions of choice. Just recently, the Miami Dolphins ended up forfeiting one of their first round picks in the draft after their failed pursuit of Tom Brady when he decided to leave New England.
At the moment, we do not know what punishment will be meted out to each team. But, at first glance, the case against the Falcons seems clearer considering that it's based on an objective reading of statements made by Kirk Cousins, while the other comes from a third party.
The NFL has not confirmed the timing yet, but they will want to clear any pending issues now rather than when training camps are in full swing and we are close to the regular season.
If the Falcons are deducted significant draft capital in the coming drafts, especially in the higher rounds, their Michael Penix Jr. pick in this year's draft might turn out to be an inspired one.