The Falcons introduced their new quarterback last night after the new league year began, officially signaling the beginning of the Kirk Cousins era. However, during that introductory press conference, Cousins let something slip that he probably shouldn’t have.
Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk was the first one to discuss the issue after Cousins admitted to talking to the head athletic trainer before the new league year began.
“There’s great people here,” Cousins said. “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 P.R. I’m thinking, we got good people here. And that’s exciting to be a part of.”
When it comes to NFL free agency, tampering is the name of the game. Nearly every team does it, and rarely does it result in any kind of punishment because it is kept under wraps. The one thing you really can’t do is rub the league’s nose in it by making it blatantly obvious. In this case, that appears to be what happened during Cousins’ introductory press conference.
“League rules do not allow that,” Florio writes. “While it often happens, it rarely comes to light so clearly. It’s exactly the kind of thing that could get the league to mobilize, even though it typically looks the other way when it comes to tampering.
Sometimes, it’s just too obvious. Sometimes, it’s just too blatant. Sometimes, the league has to do something, even if it doesn’t want to.”
Not long after, The Athletic’s Dianna Russini reported that the Falcons will be investigated regarding potential tampering violations.
The league will be looking into potential tampering violations involving the Eagles and Saquon Barkley as well as the Atlanta Falcons and Kirk Cousins, per source. Important to note, this is standard for the league to look into such matters.
— Dianna Russini (@DMRussini) March 14, 2024
On the surface, it certainly does seem like some tampering was going on to ensure Kirk Cousins would end up in Atlanta. What the league does about it remains to be seen. I would imagine it won’t be more than a slap on the wrist. Perhaps the Falcons are fined and maybe they even lose a late-round draft pick.
Anything more than that would be shocking, and in truth, I don’t think the Falcons are too concerned. They got their guy, the best quarterback available in free agency. If Arthur Blank ends up paying some kind of fine, I’m sure he’ll have no problem with it knowing his team is going to be a lot better in 2024 and beyond because of it.
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Photographer: Larry Radloff/Icon Sportswire
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