A NFL spokesman confirmed Thursday that the league is looking into whether the Atlanta Falcons violated league tampering policies with their Kirk Cousins signing.
The Falcons signed Cousins to a four-year deal on Wednesday evening. The former Vikings quarterback became an unrestricted free agent at 4 p.m. when the official league year began.
Cousins’ agent previously announced the deal on Monday. The league allowed teams to start negotiations at 12 p.m. Monday with NFLPA-certified representatives for players becoming unrestricted free agents.
The teams cannot directly speak with the players during that window unless they don’t have an agent.
During his introduction news conference Wednesday night, Cousins mentioned that he had spoken with the Falcons training and public relations staff “yesterday,” which would have been Tuesday, a day before the league year started.
“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 PR, I’m thinking, we got good people here. And that’s exciting to be a part of,” Cousins said.
This is what could have the Falcons in hot water with the NFL in terms of tampering.
Kirk Cousins.. on Wednesday night, saying he spoke with Falcons head athletic trainer and head of PR “Yesterday”… that would be Tuesday… before league year started pic.twitter.com/avCozmzuq8— Zach Klein (@ZachKleinWSB) March 14, 2024
If NFL rules that Atlanta tampered with Cousins, there are several punishments that could be handed out. That includes fines or loss of draft picks.
In some cases, the league could also issue a suspension. Dolphins owner Stephen Ross was suspended and fined in 2022 for tampering with Tom Brady and Sean Payton.
The league confirmed it is also reviewing if the Philadelphia Eagles violated tampering rules with its signing of Saquon Barkley. The Eagles have denied those allegations.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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