The NFL’s first true free agency period began on March 1, 1993. It took all of one player to switch teams before Al Davis was accused of tampering.
That charge is usually difficult to prove, as it often happens over a lunch, a drink or the phone. It can be accidental or intentional, with agents meeting team execs at events like the scouting combine, where they discuss prospects or players currently under team control. Those conversations often turn to upcoming free agents. No one wears a wire.
Those discussions are against NFL rules, which prohibit teams from contacting agents about other teams’ players until the legal tampering period begins. This year, that starts on Monday. Two days later, when the new league calendar begins, players themselves can speak with teams. Got all that?
(There are exceptions for players who were released prior to the deadline or given permission to speak with other teams, which is why Davante Adams and Aaron Rodgers can talk with the Giants, for example.)
Since 2008, the NFL’s been assigning more tampering penalties. That year, the 49ers lost a fifth-round pick and third-round swap for contacting the agent of Bears linebacker Lance Briggs. Heck, that’s probably worth it for Briggs, right?!
At that time, the NFL decided something needed to be done, and members of the competition committee recommended a moratorium on signings until a few days after free agency began.
But every year, deals get finalized suspiciously close to the opening of the window. “It’s impossible to have [those contracts] in place so quickly,” a team executive told FOX Sports. “You have teams trying to do the right thing and deals are being done in 20 minutes.”
One agent told Sports Illustrated exactly how far back tampering might go. Discussions with a team representative had begun over lunch, eight months before free agency opened. “If you ain’t cheating, you ain’t trying,” said the agent.
Last year, we saw significant examples. Remember, players cannot speak with teams until free agency officially begins, but these quotes suggested conversations prior to that.
Penalties can involve fines and losses of draft picks. The Falcons forfeited their fifth-round pick in this year’s draft and paid a $250,000 fine, plus GM Terry Fontenot paid a $50,000 fine for improper contact with Cousins and two other signings. The league found insufficient evidence to penalize the Eagles.
Other recent examples include the Cardinals losing draft positioning for tampering with now-HC Jonathan Gannon when he was an Eagles assistant, and the Dolphins losing first- and third-round picks after two executives violated rules (for years) with Tom Brady and the agent of Sean Payton.
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