OT: The NFL might as well get rid of tampering rules already

[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:

“If they have an interest they call up and tell you when free agency starts or they meet you at the combine or whenever."

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:

"A lot of teams don't think the Lions will let me hit free agency. But a few teams have called."

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]

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?

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

 

[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

 

[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]

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

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.

 

[PATSNUTme]

I think that the NFL turns their heads when talking about UFA's. Their contracts have expired and are free to talk to any team. Many of those deals are done before the official FA period starts. If they get tagged, then that's different.

Certainly RFA's are different than UFA and if there is taked talk with RFA's then that is tampering.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

Tampering is only punished when the Patriots do it.

For once, that's actually not true; some team got caught a couple years ago for blatant tampering on a player that didn't sign with them.

 

[stevedogc]

For once, that's actually not true; some team got caught a couple years ago for blatant tampering on a player that didn't sign with them.

It was the 49ers. They were caught tampering with free agent Lance Braiggs from the Bears. They were penalized a 5th round draft pick and had to swap 3rd round picks with the Bears. Which in the end cost them 5 spots (7 to 12) in round 3. Now compare that to the 750k and 1st round pick the Pats lost for spygate. An act that happened prior to and since the Pats getting caught. And something that Goddell himself said had no impact on the outcome of games. Just more proof about how much BS spygate was and how Goddell was simply trying to prove how much of a hard a** he was by taking on the biggest team and coach inthe NFL.

 

[Jackson 2]

For once, that's actually not true; some team got caught a couple years ago for blatant tampering on a player that didn't sign with them.

Correct, except no one seems to remember what team and what the punishment was. Everyone remembers NE for video-taping, along with the details of the punishment.

 

[Koma]

It was the 49ers. They were caught tampering with free agent Lance Braiggs from the Bears. They were penalized a 5th round draft pick and had to swap 3rd round picks with the Bears. Which in the end cost them 5 spots (7 to 12) in round 3. Now compare that to the 750k and 1st round pick the Pats lost for spygate. An act that happened prior to and since the Pats getting caught. And something that Goddell himself said had no impact on the outcome of games. Just more proof about how much BS spygate was and how Goddell was simply trying to prove how much of a hard a** he was by taking on the biggest team and coach inthe NFL.

Good post. To add a few thoughts: The 49ers were caught shortly after the league sent out a "no more tampering" memo. So you had the same pattern as existed for the Patriots (memo/rule violation), but the punishment for SF was much lighter.

The punishment for the 49ers makes even less sense when you consider that it would have had an on field impact. The Bears would have been set back due th loss of a player like Briggs and SF's opponents would have to deal with an improved defense. There was no "change your signals" type of solution for other teams.

 

[NEGoldenAge]

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

That was the first thing that I thought of.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

Good post. To add a few thoughts: The 49ers were caught shortly after the league sent out a "no more tampering" memo. So you had the same pattern as existed for the Patriots (memo/rule violation), but the punishment for SF was much lighter.

The punishment for the 49ers makes even less sense when you consider that it would have had an on field impact. The Bears would have been set back due th loss of a player like Briggs and SF's opponents would have to deal with an improved defense. There was no "change your signals" type of solution for other teams.

To play Devil's advocate, the SF effort at tampering, whatever it was, failed.

OTOH, I think Robert Kraft's got a pretty damn good argument against "selective enforcement" if Goodell gets the vapors again. . . .

 

[olschool]

To play Devil's advocate, the SF effort at tampering, whatever it was, failed.

OTOH, I think Robert Kraft's got a pretty damn good argument against "selective enforcement" if Goodell gets the vapors again. . . .

Didn't the Pats have to give up a first rounder to the Jets for BB ? Was that considered tampering ?

And when Parcells was talking to the Jets during Superbowl week in '96, wasn't that considered tampering ? I don't remember the Jets losing anything for Parcells.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

Didn't the Pats have to give up a first rounder to the Jets for BB ? Was that considered tampering ?

And when Parcells was talking to the Jets during Superbowl week in '96, wasn't that considered tampering ? I don't remember the Jets losing anything for Parcells.

The BB 1st round pick was compensation for hiring away the Jets HC, not for tampering. The Pats had faxed over a request to interview Jets DC Belichick for HC of the Pats. Parcells freaked, kicked himself upstairs and made BB HC. Kraft paid the piper to avoid a ****storm.

As to Parcells talking to the Jets, we know that the league always protects the NY franchises.

 

[Steve102]

...and here I am thinking I was the only cynic. I want to wrap up in this thread like a warm blanket. :singing: