Does the NFL have a statute of limitations on tampering?

Does the NFL have a statute of limitations on tampering?

Or are the Patriots in danger of having another draft pick stolen from them for something that happened 17 years ago?

(Dillon was still under contract with the Bengals; I'm assuming the Pats had not received permission from Cincinnati to speak with him about a trade or a contract restructure.)

Happy to be penalized for this if in return we get multiple #1 picks from the 3 teams that supposedly talked with our GOAT coach in 2018.

Great, another Super Bowl season the haters can just write off because of a rumor.

Florio is typing up an outraged article about it right now. Lol

jmt57 said:

Does the NFL have a statute of limitations on tampering?

Or are the Patriots in danger of having another draft pick stolen from them for something that happened 17 years ago?

(Dillon was still under contract with the Bengals; I'm assuming the Pats had not received permission from Cincinnati to speak with him about a trade or a contract restructure.)

Scott Pioli tells the story of the Patriots’ secret road trip to sign Corey Dillon in 2004

The Residence Inn in Rocky Hill, Connecticut, served as the springboard for a massive trade.

www.patspulpit.com

“It was about a week before the draft started. It was back in 2004, there was only a two-day draft — it was Saturday and Sunday,” Pioli said. “About a week before the draft, Belichick and I get in my car and we do a little road trip down to Rocky Hill, Connecticut. At the Residence in Rocky Hill, Connecticut we meet with Corey Dillon and his agent Steve Feldman.​

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“The Cincinnati Bengals wanted to trade him, but Bill and I were in a situation where we spent time with Corey to make sure that he was going to understand our culture, understand everything that we did. So there we were in this little room in Rocky Hill, Connecticut; Feldman, Corey Dillon, Belichick and myself, and we were having this conversation, trying to get to know Corey a little bit more than what we knew as a football player.”​

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Often in situations like this, the trading team offers a window for “negotiations” (due diligence) for the potential acquiring team. The Raiders gave it to the Patriots for Randy Moss. The Patriots gave it to Deion Branch during the 2006 offseason disaster. Just because Pioli didn’t explicitly mention it, doesn’t mean the Patriots didn’t have permission from the Bengals for this.

The thing is every team does this. I bet there was at least another team or two or four that met with Dillon like this too.

Great ... Pioli talking out of turn... There goes our first

Pioli needs to stfu.

.

The NFL can do whatever they want (see suspension of Brady, Tom). But who's going to push this knowing the ridiculous can of worms it will open for every team in the league?

Sicilian said:

The NFL can do whatever they want (see suspension of Brady, Tom). But who's going to push this knowing the ridiculous can of worms it will open for every team in the league?

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I don't know...Belichick threatened the league with the same thing with Spygate (because he knew other teams were all doing something similar) and they still lost the pick. Although Goodell destroyed the tapes and shut up about it right after and that's where it ended...so it seems like whatever Belichick said at least kept it from going any further.

jmt57 said:

Does the NFL have a statute of limitations on tampering?

Click to expand...

I was sort of wondering the same thing. It's not like Belichick has retired or is coaching somewhere else. My assumption is, someone is going to start banging that drum at some point, and then it's just a matter of how loud it gets or if anyone else of substance joins in.

I don't fault Pioli for wanting to tell the story. But he could just do like the rest of the world does and write a book down the road instead of going on television and sharing these little tidbits.

This won't end well. At least he could've waited till after next week to share this little subterfuge.

There's no reason for a statute of limitations, but I'm sure that they have safe zones for rule violations. Unfortunately, Foxboro isn't one of those.

Ian said:

I don't know...Belichick threatened the league with the same thing with Spygate (because he knew other teams were all doing something similar) and they still lost the pick. Although Goodell destroyed the tapes and shut up about it right after and that's where it ended...so it seems like whatever Belichick said at least kept it from going any further.

Click to expand...

Fair point, and what I'm about to say is pure conjecture, but: I imagine everyone was doing things similar to what the Pats did with Spygate, but I doubt there was much in the way of evidence. I think that was what the league really (behind the scenes) punished the Patriots for: Being so brazen about it. It's like pitchers using illegal goop in baseball. No one cares unless the TV broadcast can see it on their friggen neck.

I'm willing to bet that every team has SOME evidence of tampering regarding free agents they've lost, and no one cares so long as everyone has these tampering "nukes" pointed at one another.

I'm pretty sure that the Bengals gave the Pats permission to speak to Dillon, because they had to renegotiate his contract before the trade could be consumated.

Still what a steal! Clock Killin Corey Dillon!!!

I can still hear Dion Sanders, "Marvin, do you play in the AFC? The Patriots just won the Superbowl and you give them the one thing that they didn't have, a superstar RB, why?"

BTW, the two first round picks that Pioli saved by only trading a second for Dillon, Vince Wilfork and Ben Watson. Imagine adding that much talent with three picks.

Ian said:

I don't know...Belichick threatened the league with the same thing with Spygate (because he knew other teams were all doing something similar) and they still lost the pick. Although Goodell destroyed the tapes and shut up about it right after and that's where it ended...so it seems like whatever Belichick said at least kept it from going any further.

Click to expand...

I haven't had a Crygate discussion in ages. I'm game.

Goody destroyed the tapes because somehow (maybe involving his wife) someone leaked a copy to the mediots.

Crygate never ended and probably never will. Goody used it to punish the Pats more down the road for a crime that nobody committed and also took the GOAT off the field for a quarter of a season.

When Kraft didn't support BB or fight the league he exposed himself (not in his normal way) as a wimp. He then confirmed it by treating Brady the same way during defamegate.

So Bengals wanted to trade him and accepted the Pats offer? Would be amusing to see them throw a tampering charge 17 years later over a deal both sides were happy with.

I could care less at this point. The NFL has absolute power to do whatever the hell it wants, see the case NFL vs Brady, Thomas.

You wore an unapproved sweatshirt to press conference on such and such date. You will forfeit X picks and X money.

They either will or won't. I am not going to waste any thought power worrying about it.

1960Pats said:

I haven't had a Crygate discussion in ages. I'm game.

Goody destroyed the tapes because somehow (maybe involving his wife) someone leaked a copy to the mediots.

Crygate never ended and probably never will. Goody used it to punish the Pats more down the road for a crime that nobody committed and also took the GOAT off the field for a quarter of a season.

When Kraft didn't support BB or fight the league he exposed himself (not in his normal way) as a wimp. He then confirmed it by treating Brady the same way during defamegate.

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The best to this day was that Saturday press conference during deflategate when that reporter brought spygate up and Belichick went ballistic and eviscerated him. That moment was epic and I loved how pissed off he got about it, primarily because he never really publicly defended himself while it was going on. He looked the guy dead in the eyes and just completely shut him up.

Hammer of Thor said:

Often in situations like this, the trading team offers a window for “negotiations” (due diligence) for the potential acquiring team. The Raiders gave it to the Patriots for Randy Moss. The Patriots gave it to Deion Branch during the 2006 offseason disaster. Just because Pioli didn’t explicitly mention it, doesn’t mean the Patriots didn’t have permission from the Bengals for this.

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You make a good point, and it is true that we have seen several cases when teams tell a player that they are free to work out a deal with another club.

But if that was the case here, then why did Pioli and Belichick feel a need to go out of their way to have a secret meeting with Dillon and his agent? Pioli mentioned he couldn't bring Dillon in to Foxborough out of concern that he would be recognized.