NFL Rumors: New York Jets could face tampering charges for talking about DeSean Jackson
By Josh Hill
In the world of the NFL, we hear rumors about who wants to sign who and who wants to trade for who al the time, but they come from the beat writers and the unnamed sources, never directly from the owner of the team. But that’s what has happened with the whole DeSean Jackson situation as the New York Jets haven’t actively tampered with the receiver but are coming dangerously close to doing so.
Owner Woody Johnson mentioned Jackson by name this weekend as a player they’d like to have, and given that Jackson is under contract with another team, that’s a big no-no. According to Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio, the Jets could face tampering violations as a result.
"Johnson’s comments could be enough to result in a finding of tampering. “Any public or private statement of interest, qualified or unqualified, in another club’s player to that player’s agent or representative, or to a member of the news media, is a violation,” the league’s tampering policy states."
As Florio notes, it’s hard to tell exactly when the league will play the tampering card because it’s so rarely done but it does get played. Teams talking about their interest in players under contract is always a bad idea but it’s not a lock that the Jets will get hit with a tampering violation.