The Falcons were punished for their “most blatant case” of tampering.
The Falcons may have found their man, but Mike Florio may have witnessed “the most blatant case of tampering” in his career. Kirk Cousins signed a four-year, $180 million contract with Atlanta, but the founder of Pro Football Talk is still claiming that both parties broke the law. Florior went on a tirade about the Falcons and Cousins’ tampering actions in response to a question on what offseason plot is being ignored on the What The Football podcast.
“You know, tampering is a big deal in the NFL and it occurs frequently. That’s how it begins at the scouting combine, where it’s essentially accepted. When agents and team representatives meet in person, conversations take place, according to Florio, via Bring Me The News. However, there’s a level of decency that must be used, and you can’t immediately tell everyone that you screwed this guy over. Furthermore, I think the Falcons’ pursuit of Kirk Cousins is the clearest example of tampering I’ve ever witnessed.
All of this is related to Cousins’ initial news appearance at Flowery Branch, where the veteran disclosed that he had spoken with other team members and that Kyle Pitts had recruited him several weeks prior to the legal tampering period. “This group of people is amazing,” Cousins remarked. It’s not limited to the football squad either. I mean, I’m observing the support personnel. Yesterday, we had a meeting, spoke with our head of P.R., and called our head sports trainer. We have some decent folks here, I think. And it’s thrilling to take part in it.
The NFL’s worst-kept secret right now is tampering. Owners, players, and teams all do it frequently. Florio, a well-known Vikings fan, claims it’s the most obvious case he’s ever seen and even goes so far as to accuse Cousins of “tampering within tampering”—an act of conception tampering. They are rarely probed, and even fewer are punished. According to Bring Me The News, Florio stated, “And someone enlisted him to recruit Darnell Mooney from the Bears.” You have many levels of tampering, or tampering within tampering. He discussed it candidly, as if they were indifferent to it. It was really obvious.
Although the Falcons are being investigated, I don’t think the league offices will release any significant information. The Dolphins, Tom Brady, and Stephen Ross are the most well-known tampering case in recent memory. For their part in luring Brady, Miami was docked a first- and fourth-round selection, but I don’t see that happening in this case. Nonetheless, Florio feels that justice will be served. “As long as you are not overt, the NFL won’t take any action. They were extremely overt this year. They are unable to turn away. According to Bring Me The News, “I don’t think they can look the other way; we’ll see if they do.”