Eagles could luck out in Saquon Barkley tampering charges

When the 2024 offseason began, former Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins and former New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley were two of the top players available in free agency.

The Atlanta Falcons signed Cousins and the Philadelphia Eagles managed to land Barkley, but both teams may end up paying more for the signings than they initially anticipated.

The NFL is investigating whether or not Atlanta and Philadelphia violated the league's anti-tampering policy in their pursuit of the premier free agents. Over the past several months, the league has spoken with various members of both organizations to determine if any transgression occurred.

It's no secret that every team violates tampering rules every year. Skirting the rules is common practice and the league office governs with a lackadaisical attitude, turning a blind eye to competitive cheating as long as it can. Whether it's substance abuse or tampering, the only rule is an unwritten one: "Just don't be dumb enough to get caught." In this case, Atlanta and Philadelphia were plenty dumb enough.

Eagles may escape tampering charge with a light sentence

A resolution in the alleged free agent tampering cases of the Atlanta Falcons and Philadelphia Eagles is likely to come this week, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

While both teams are likely guilty of tampering, Schefter reports that "the Falcons' alleged transgressions are considered more significant, and the discipline is expected to be more severe for Atlanta."

Both teams are accused of having contractual conversations with the players prior to the league's legal negotiating period, which began on March 11. Although teams can contact an agent during the legal negotiating period, they cannot speak with players directly until after the new league year.

In both instances, the tampering charges were brought on by the free agents themselves. Penn State coach James Franklin, Barkley's collegiate head coach, said Eagles general manager Howie Roseman had conversations with the two-time Pro Bowl running back prior to the legal negotiating period.

Atlanta, who signed Cousins to a four-year, $180 million deal at the start of free agency, has taken most of the spotlight since the tampering is directly related to a large contract at a premium position. That's allowed the Eagles to hide in Atlanta's shadow during the investigations.

Minnesota seemed aware of the Falcons tampering long before the NFL took it seriously. Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell hinted at Atlanta tampering with Cousins at the NFL Scouting Combine in February. The comments were largely ignored. Instead, the league's investigation was prompted by an accidental confession by Cousins himself.

During his introductory press conference with Atlanta, Cousins indicated that he had a conversation with the team's trainer before the legal negotiating period.

While the league has looked past tampering as much as possible, the discipline for violating the policy has been severe.

The Miami Dolphins forfeited their first-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft and a third-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft for tampering with quarterback Tom Brady and head coach Sean Payton on three occasions from 2019 to 2022. Team owner Stephen Ross and vice chairman Bruce Beal were also fined a total of $2 million.

Before then, the Kansas City Chiefs forfeited their third-round pick in the 2016 NFL Draft and a sixth-round pick in the 2017 NFL Draft for tampering with wide receiver Jeremy Maclin in 2015. Fines totaling $350,000 were also levied against the organization, head coach Andy Reid, and former general manager John Dorsey.

If Atlanta receives a punishment similar to the Dolphins, the Eagles should feel fortunate to wind up with something closer to the punishment doled out to the Chiefs.