The NFL‘s legal tampering period allows teams to speak directly with players’ representatives and discuss deals before the official start of free agency. Yet, Kirk Cousins may have made a mistake during his introductory press conference with the Atlanta Falcons.
While plenty of reports mentioned Atlanta’s interest in Cousins during the legal tampering period, the intimate details were never revealed. That was until Atlanta’s new starting quarterback met with the media on Wednesday night.
Kirk Cousins Makes Shocking Admission on Wednesday Night
Despite the NFL’s best efforts to prevent illegal tampering, it’s a poorly kept secret that it still happens throughout the league. While it’s hard to believe that entire contracts are negotiated within a few minutes of the NFL’s legal tampering period opening, teams rarely get in trouble because they don’t admit to anything publicly.
Yet Cousins may have unintentionally done exactly that during his introductory press conference on Wednesday night.
The 35-year-old quarterback mentioned his interactions with Atlanta’s staff, including a conversation with the team’s head athletic trainer on Tuesday, which is illegal.
“There’s great people here, 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,” Cousins said.
Given his 12 years of experience in the NFL, it’s hard to believe that Cousins would slip up like that during a press conference. Yet, here we are as Atlanta’s starting quarterback may have made a costly mistake.
Another NFL Team Accused of Tampering
Before Cousins’ comments on Wednesday night, the Philadelphia Eagles faced tampering accusations following comments from Penn State head coach James Franklin.
According to Franklin, Eagles general manager Howie Roseman spoke directly to running back Saquon Barkley during the NFL’s legal tampering period, which is certainly against the rules, and Philadelphia quickly denied those allegations.
KEEP READING: Cam Newton Rips Falcons for Kirk Cousins Signing — ‘Extremely Alarming He Only Had 1 Playoff Win in 12 Years’
One similarity between Cousins and Barkley’s situations is the number of reports tying them to their eventual new teams. While it will be tough for the NFL to prove direct conversations in either situation, there was certainly plenty of smoke in the air leading up to the start of free agency.
While it remains to be seen if either the Falcons or Eagles will be punished by the NFL, this will certainly serve as a wake-up call to the rest of the league.
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