REPORT: VIKINGS/FALCONS TAMPERING SITUATION TO BE RESOLVED THIS WEEK

As we stand on the precipice of the 2024 NFL Draft, one prominent NFL source is reporting that the league is apparently close to resolving a situation that could impact how the Minnesota Vikings handle their business at this year’s selection meeting.

Behind the great E$PN paywall, Adam Schefter is reporting that the league is expected to come to a resolution soon on the charges that the Atlanta Falcons tampered with quarterback Kirk Cousins ahead of the start of free agency. For those that haven’t been following the story, Cousins stated in his introductory press conference with the Falcons that he had been in contact with the team’s training staff during the “legal tampering” period, a time during which only player representatives are supposed to be in contact with the teams.

Per Schefter’s report, and this quote is directly from the article, “the discipline, which is likely to involve draft picks, is expected to be more severe for the Falcons.” In this case, “more severe” is in reference to whatever penalties the Philadelphia Eagles might face for their alleged tampering with former New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley, which will likely also be resolved at the same time as the Vikings/Falcons situation.

There have been several examples of tampering in the recent past, including a couple just last year.

• Ahead of the 2023 NFL Draft, the Miami Dolphins were stripped of their first-round pick (as well as a 2024 third-round selection) for reportedly tampering with Tom Brady and Sean Payton on multiple occasions over a three-year period.
• In addition, the Arizona Cardinals were found to have tampered with then-Eagles assistant coach Jonathan Gannon in their search for a new head coach. The punishment was that the Cardinals were forced to swap third-round picks with Philadelphia, exchanging the 66th overall pick for the 94th overall pick. The Cardinals also received a fifth-round pick from the Eagles in this year’s Draft.

There has been some speculation that any sort of penalty for the Falcons would include them being forced to swap first-round picks with the Vikings this Thursday, moving the Vikings from #11 to #8 in the first round. I don’t know how far the league is going to go as far as disciplining the Falcons for what happened ahead of the start of free agency, but it sounds like we’re going to know the answer to that question before too much longer.

2024-04-23T00:03:35Z dg43tfdfdgfd