Kirk Cousins talked about it. Now, it’s up to the Falcons to show that he didn’t mean what he said. Cousins’ remarks during his introduction news conference in Atlanta triggered an NFL investigation into a possible breach of anti-tampering rules.
The quarterback mentioned that he had met with or spoken to members of the Falcons’ staff the day before free agency began. NFL rules forbid players represented by an agent from meeting or talking with teams during the two-day negotiating period before free agency officially starts.
On Tuesday, a day after Falcons owner Arthur Blank denied any tampering with Cousins before signing him to a $180 million contract over four years, coach Raheem Morris suggested that Cousins’ excitement might have led to a mixed-up timeline.
“I can’t discuss it right now as it’s being reviewed, but I trust our team did the right thing,” Morris said. “Sometimes when you’re excited and talking about things, timelines can get blurry. We’ll address it when the time is right. Right now, it’s not the right time.”
The investigation into tampering should be straightforward: There’s video footage from the facility to confirm whether Cousins did or did not meet with Atlanta’s head athletic trainer, and phone records can show if he did or didn’t talk to director of player personnel Ryan Pace during the 52-hour negotiating period.
