Perhaps the league will clarify or even tweak the language.
Personally, I'm fine with the practice as it is. It is almost USELESS to have a legal tampering period with contract teams being discussed. Free agency has been extended by three days. Perhaps everyone would feel differently if no contracts could be final for the first three days of free agency.
The three day period is very useful to everyone. The McCourty situation is a good example. The teams have months of exclusive discussions with the players. For three days, other teams can talk to the players, with no contract being final. And then free agency begins. I like this process a lot.
And make NO mistake, the contracts are not final. It is good that Gore is not likely to go to PHI. Note that the announcements by players actually have a positive role to play. Other teams can step their efforts, including the player's current team.
The jets should be fined. As an aside, if anyone making decisions for the patriots actually thought that no team was interested in paying Revis serious money, that person should be fired. No one knows, even now, how much the jets are willing to pay or how much another team might pay. What folks do know is that Revis likes NY and the jets, and always has. And the feeling is mutual.
So, my vote is to tweak the language and to keep the process.