Possible reason for delay in Jets tampering ruling?

I saw this in Reiss's mailbag today

Jack (Denton, TX)
Do you think that the tampering charge hanging over the Jets might prevent them from pursuing Revis if he hits the open market?

Mike (11:13 AM)
No, I think the Jets would still be able to sign Revis. But if they do, it actually might strengthen the value of what the Patriots receive in any tampering ruling. I mean, that's a pretty strong case if you ask me: The Jets owner says the team would gladly have him back, and then they sign Revis to a record deal? To which the Patriots say: "Thank you very much, we'll now happily take your first-round pick."

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So perhaps the NFL is waiting to issue a ruling until it sees exactly what plays out, so that it can set the severity of any punishment accordingly?

(Note also that Reiss isn't actually serious about expecting a 1st-round pick in any case, as he makes clear later in the mailbag.)

I saw this in Reiss's mailbag today

Jack (Denton, TX)
Do you think that the tampering charge hanging over the Jets might prevent them from pursuing Revis if he hits the open market?

Mike (11:13 AM)
No, I think the Jets would still be able to sign Revis. But if they do, it actually might strengthen the value of what the Patriots receive in any tampering ruling. I mean, that's a pretty strong case if you ask me: The Jets owner says the team would gladly have him back, and then they sign Revis to a record deal? To which the Patriots say: "Thank you very much, we'll now happily take your first-round pick."

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So perhaps the NFL is waiting to issue a ruling until it sees exactly what plays out, so that it can set the severity of any punishment accordingly?

(BTW, Reiss wasn't serious about expecting NE would ever get NYJ's first round pick, as he made clear later in the mailbag, though he does think a Jet signing of Revis would increase the severity of any punishment.)

The NFL is not going to punish the Jets. Just waking up day after day and being the Jets is punishment enough...

conversely if the Jets do not sign Revis can they argue that there was no damage to the Pats & therefore no compensation due?

PatsWickedPissah said:

conversely if the Jets do not sign Revis can they argue that there was no damage to the Pats & therefore no compensation due?

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Right. That's why I would have a hard time agreeing with Reiss in this particular instance.

I'm not sure that I necessarily agree with any kind of delay in terms of the Revis tampering charges, especially with the noise issue in ATL, the texting issue in CLE, and the deflategate crap in NE.

I think the only real timetable the NFL has on all of these issues may be the draft at the end of April, so there may realistically be another 2-4-6 weeks before we get to the end result of all of these investigations.

I don't buy it. Revis is under contract for next year. Now, we all know that's a placeholder of sorts, and we don't expect the Patriots to keep him at that number. But by league rules, they can't ASSUME that the Pats are going to cut him if an extension isn't reached. The only thing they can assume is that the Jets tampered (technically) with a player who is under contract with another team. It should be open and shut.

Sicilian said:

I don't buy it. Revis is under contract for next year. Now, we all know that's a placeholder of sorts, and we don't expect the Patriots to keep him at that number. But by league rules, they can't ASSUME that the Pats are going to cut him if an extension isn't reached. The only thing they can assume is that the Jets tampered (technically) with a player who is under contract with another team. It should be open and shut.

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Out of all of the current investigations, you're right--the Revis one should be the easiest one to solve fairly quickly. I can't imagine that it would take too long to figure out.

It seems as if they just aren't in that much of a hurry, especially with their other investigations. Who really knows where they may prioritize the Revis situation?

supafly said:

Out of all of the current investigations, you're right--the Revis one should be the easiest one to solve fairly quickly. I can't imagine that it would take too long to figure out.

It seems as if they just aren't in that much of a hurry, especially with their other investigations. Who really knows where they may prioritize the Revis situation?

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It does seem like that's the most likely cause. It's also possible that there's some internal debate over what a potential punishment would even be for this particular level of tampering, and like you said with everything else going on it's probably taken a back seat. Their only real deadline with it is the draft, IF it's a draft pick worthy violation.

The league seems to be holding off on issuing any punishments. The Falcons already admitted to cheating and I think the Browns did too. I think they are waiting for the Wells report and dumping all the punishments out at once to bury them with Deflategate because that is the only one anyone seems to care about.

That said, I think the Jets will get a nominal fine. I think they deserve to be punished for stupidity, but what Woody Johnson did was more stupid than anything really bad. It really isn't that big of a deal.

Clearly this should be an open and shut textbook case of tampering. The fact that the owner was recently warned about it SHOULD mandate a serious punishment.

Even if the Pat eventually sign Revis to an extension they can claim that the tampering made the negotiations more difficult.

As much as I'd like to see us with that #6 pick, the more likely and just punishment would be forcing the Jets to swap picks with us in the 2nd or 3rd round, plus a healthy fine.

PatsWickedPissah said:

conversely if the Jets do not sign Revis can they argue that there was no damage to the Pats & therefore no compensation due?

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I don't think that follows.

There could (I'd argue should!) be some base-level punishment for just doing the tampering regardless of what happens, and then punishment enhancements taking into account the actual damage you caused.

if they didn't get hit after they had coaches hitting opposing players running near the sideline, they wont get hit for this.

rlcarr said:

I saw this in Reiss's mailbag today



So perhaps the NFL is waiting to issue a ruling until it sees exactly what plays out, so that it can set the severity of any punishment accordingly?

(BTW, Reiss wasn't serious about expecting NE would ever get NYJ's first round pick, as he made clear later in the mailbag, though he does think a Jet signing of Revis would increase the severity of any punishment.)

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Reiss wasn't serious?!? Damn, I was already buying all the draft magazines figuring out who the Pats could draft at sixth.

The way the Jets draft with top ten draft picks (Dewayne Robertson, Mark Sanchez, Vernon Gholston, and Dee Miliner), it would be more of a punishment taking away their pick. Their only top ten draft pick in the last 19 years that has worked out is DeBrickishaw Ferguson and he is a disappointment rather than the outright busts of their other top 10 picks.

Just like the Patriots won't be punished if video recording signals doesn't really make a difference in the outcome or "deflated" footballs make no difference either. I thought it has nothing to do with the "advantage" gained and everything to do with integrity, right Roger? Right? Right?

supafly said:

Right. That's why I would have a hard time agreeing with Reiss in this particular instance.

I'm not sure that I necessarily agree with any kind of delay in terms of the Revis tampering charges, especially with the noise issue in ATL, the texting issue in CLE, and the deflategate crap in NE.

I think the only real timetable the NFL has on all of these issues may be the draft at the end of April, so there may realistically be another 2-4-6 weeks before we get to the end result of all of these investigations.

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I think tampering is tampering regardless of the outcome. The reason there is a rule against tampering is that it interferes with the clubs right to negotiate with their own player exclusively. If Revis resigns here, there is no way to know how much he used the information he gained from the tampering attempt to help him negotiate. Its important to note Woody also implied a contract when he said he should have outbid the Patriots last year.
So because of tampering Revis is aware of the market outside of NE which is exactly what the rule is there to prevent, thereby giving the exclusive team and exclusive right to set a market price while he is their property.
I think Reiss is saying if the Jets sign him, it shows intent, but that really doesn't matter, although the way the NFL is run now, the penalty would be more severe because it would get more coverage in the media and public opinion would think its 'more tampering'.

Rob0729 said:

The league seems to be holding off on issuing any punishments. The Falcons already admitted to cheating and I think the Browns did too. I think they are waiting for the Wells report and dumping all the punishments out at once to bury them with Deflategate because that is the only one anyone seems to care about.

That said, I think the Jets will get a nominal fine. I think they deserve to be punished for stupidity, but what Woody Johnson did was more stupid than anything really bad. It really isn't that big of a deal.

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Doesn't matter if it's a big deal teams have been punished in the past for it. I still don't understand why the Jets would even be able to sign Revis after tampering with him. That's like robbing a bank and then going to jail but still keeping the money. It makes no sense.

Froob said:

Doesn't matter if it's a big deal teams have been punished in the past for it. I still don't understand why the Jets would even be able to sign Revis after tampering with him. That's like robbing a bank and then going to jail but still keeping the money. It makes no sense.

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Come on, Woody Johnson is just an idiot. They are not going to stop them from being able to go after Revis if he becomes a free agent because their owner has Foot-in-mouth disease. It isn't like they went behind the Pats' back and contacted Revis or his agent. Woody Johnson just doesn't know when to keep his mouth shut.

patfanken said:

Clearly this should be an open and shut textbook case of tampering. The fact that the owner was recently warned about it SHOULD mandate a serious punishment.

Even if the Pat eventually sign Revis to an extension they can claim that the tampering made the negotiations more difficult.

As much as I'd like to see us with that #6 pick, the more likely and just punishment would be forcing the Jets to swap picks with us in the 2nd or 3rd round, plus a healthy fine.

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I would be SHOCKED if we swapped 2nd, 3rd or 4th rnd picks. I expect no swap or at best a 6th swapped.

chasa said:

if they didn't get hit after they had coaches hitting opposing players running near the sideline, they wont get hit for this.

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Well you can't blame the league for that, blame the Rats, after all, the league allowed them to investigate and punish themselves.

The likely reason for waiting so long is that the issue is not very important. A minimal fine may happen or a minor affect on the 6th or 7th round of the draft (unlikely).


Given that there may be 10 or 15 teams legally tampering with Revis before his deal is effective, the issue of the owner's stupid statement is not a big deal, or at least shouldn't be.