NFL says it won't conclude Falcons, Eagles tampering investigations this week
On Monday, ESPN's Adam Schefter said the NFL could conclude tampering reviews involving the Falcons and Eagles this week. On Tuesday, the NFL said to Schefter that it won't happen.
From Schefter: "The league’s review into tampering allegations against the Falcons and Eagles is ongoing and will not conclude this week, per the NFL."
That alone is a favor to the Falcons and Eagles, if either is found guilty of tampering with Kirk Cousins and Saquon Barkley, respectively. If they get whacked, they won't lose 2024 draft picks.
It's unclear why it's taking so long. Last year, the Cardinals tampered with former Eagles defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon in February, and the resolution was announced just before the draft. This year, the tampering happened, if at all, in March. It would seem to be a fairly simple investigation.
The Eagles are under scrutiny for potentially talking directly to Barkley during the 52-hour negotiating window. The Falcons are being investigated for the same thing when it comes to Cousins — and possibly much more, based on the admissions made by Cousins during his introductory press conference.
As explained on Tuesday's PFT Live, the eventual resolution as to the Falcons (who blatantly tampered with Cousins) will reveal plenty about the punishment, the crime, and the investigation. The NFL could, for example, use the fact that Cousins started to say he actually met with Atlanta's head athletic trainer during the negotiating period as a basis for investigating whether a meeting happened. Or the NFL could ignore it.
It will be interesting to see whether the NFL is transparent when it comes to the investigation and the number of infractions found. It also will be interesting to see what the punishment is. The simple reality is that, based on Cousins's own words, the Falcons potentially committed multiple violations as to multiple players — both Cousins and former Bears receiver Darnell Mooney.
Will either or both teams get punished? Will the NFL disclose facts about the violations? When will the answers come?
For now, we apparently won't see any of it this week.
