Rob0729

The league tampering rules are a joke or at least enforcement of them are. This week alone, Tom Condon and Cliff Avril both admitted to tampering being prevalent in the NFL.

In Borges' piece yesterday, Condon said in terms of the Pats talking to him about a contract offer for Brandon Lloyd:

Brandon Lloyd’s agent puts Pats on call - BostonHerald.com

Except it is against the league's tampering rules for a team to discuss a player who is currently under contract with another team with an agent. Lloyd and all the 2012 free agents do not become free agents until two weeks after the combines and are still under contract.

Cliff Avril said on Sirius NFL radio the other day:

Lions' Cliff Avril: 'There's no such thing as a hometown discount' | Detroit Free Press | freep.com

This is a clear admission of teams tampering.

It is pretty bad when agents and players aren't even hiding the fact that teams tamper. It is the worst kept secret that teams tamper all the time, but it becomes a complete joke when agents and players don't even try to hide that they are breaking the rules.

resdubwhite

the concern here is that teams that wait until FA opens get ripped here. THe rules not being enforced kill them.


So they join the rest in tapping up future FA's.


I call BS.

PATSNUTme

Have you ever noticed how fast some players get signed within minutes of the start of the FA period?

Does anyone think that these deals, often some good sized deals, were all done within those few minutes?

dhamz

I think that most everyone in the NFL views it as different to tamper with a player in season who is under contract. I'm not saying it doesn't happen because it does but it is much rarer and under the radar. Those rules should stay in place and be enforced with tough penalties.

The tampering rules regarding this period - after the Super Bowl but before the start of the next league year should just go away. Neither the players, agents, or teams view this time period as part of the prior season. No one views the players whose contracts are technically expiring in March still under contract to the team they played for the last season.

PatsWickedPissah

No

However, I have a bit of paranoid concern that Commissioner Goodell will awake from his slumber and suddenly decide to make New England a focal point of enforcement

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jmt57

To me talking to a player after the season has ended and talking to a player under contract with another team during the season are two entirely different situations, and should be treated as such. The rules, however, lump the two situations together as one - even though they are not remotely similar.

The easy answer would be to allow for talks with any upcoming free agent to take place once the season ends, but some players (and teams) would prefer to not negotiate during the season, and instead wait until the season ends to enter discussions on a new contract.

With that in mind, how about this: for the two weeks immediately after a soon-to-be free agent player's season ends, the only team that is allowed to talk to him is the team for which he currently plays. In other words for a member of a team that missed the playoffs that period would begin following week 17; for a player on a team that lost in the wild card round his two-week period begins a week later, etc. Then after that two-week period ends, any team is allowed to make contact with a player about to hit free agency. Contracts still cannot be signed and deemed to be official until the start of the NFL calendar year and start of free agency.

An alternative would be to have current team-only contact with all players up to a specific date (say for two weeks following the super bowl), followed by anybody can make contact for a specific time frame (say for another two weeks, for example), which would then be followed by the official start of free agency when players can sign contracts with new teams.

BradyBranch39

they won't punish anybody until the interested team* is named.

*Jets or Giants don't have to worry though

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ThatllMoveTheChains!!!

I think they should send out a memo, hand down the most severe punishment in league history to some random transgressor, and then go right back to ignoring it.

resdubwhite

And certainly given Condons comments I can only imagine NE are being setup here for a fall.

olschool

Tampering is only punished when the Patriots do it.

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