NFL reportedly investigating Atlanta Falcons for potential tampering in Kirk Cousins signing
ATLANTA — The Atlanta Falcons' pursuit of former Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins may not have been entirely above board, if recent reports are correct.
ESPN's Dan Graziano reported Thursday the NFL is "looking into potential tampering" by the Falcons.
Tampering refers to making contact with a potential signee outside of the windows allowed by the league. Cousins' agent announced his deal with the Falcons about two-and-a-half hours after the NFL's free agent negotiating window opened on Monday.
During the negotiating window, players and their agents can talk to teams, but are forbidden from visiting teams. During his introductory news conference Wednesday, Cousins had a slip of the tongue that may have made league officials' ears perk up.
"You look around and you think, 'Boy, there's great people here,'" Cousins said. "And it's not just the football team. I mean, I'm looking at the support staff. Meeting – calling, yesterday, calling our head athletic trainer, talking to our head of PR, I'm thinking, 'We got good people here.'"
If Cousins was indeed "meeting" the Falcons' trainer on Tuesday — inside the negotiating window and before the start of the league year — it would be a cut and dried tampering violation.
The Falcons officially announced Cousins' signing after the new league year began Wednesday afternoon. The NFL Network reported Cousins' deal is for four years and $180 million, though only $100 million is guaranteed.
Cousins, for his part, made no indication outside of his misspeaking that he had illicit contact with the Falcons.
"There was a lot of conversations in a short amount of time, right?" he said. "It goes fast, that's the way free agency works."
He also gave some insight into why he chose the Falcons over a return to the Vikings.
"In Minnesota it was trending over the last couple offseasons to being somewhat year-to-year, and as we talked with Atlanta it felt like this was a place where if I play at the level I expect to play that I can retire a Falcon," Cousins said.
The Vikings on Wednesday announced the signing of quarterback Sam Darnold, Cousins' likely successor, pending their draft plans.
If the Falcons are found guilty of tampering, they could be fined or potentially forced to forfeit draft picks.