Soon after Kirk Cousins’ introductory press conference with the Falcons, tampering allegations became the hot talking point. It appeared that Atlanta’s new quarterback hinted at some things that may not be legal in the eyes of the NFL.
“There’s great people here,” Cousins said at his introductory press conference. “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 P.R. I’m thinking, we got good people here. And that’s exciting to be a part of.”
Not long after, the league announced they would be reviewing the situation, which is where we are at right now. No punishment has been handed down, but people at the top of the Falcons organization don’t seem too concerned, beginning with Arthur Blank.
“Any time the word ‘tampering’ comes up, you worry about it,” Blank told USA TODAY Sports in Orlando at the owner’s meetings. “I know there was no tampering from our standpoint. Whatever conversation there was, was very innocent. We’ll see. Whatever the league decides, we’ll deal with it.”
“There was nothing intentional,” Blank said. “Minnesota understands that. The player understands that.”
Falcons new head coach Raheem Morris had similar comments on the situation, stating he has confidence that his staff did the right thing in their recruitment of Cousins to Atlanta.
Tampering in the NFL is the biggest nothing-burger. There are rules against it, rules that almost no organization follows. Even if the Falcons are found guilty of breaking those rules, I highly doubt there will be any punishment more than a slap on the wrist.
The reason the Falcons were able to pry Kirk Cousins out of Minnesota isn’t because they communicated with him and his representatives before the legal tampering period. It’s because they were willing to go above and beyond in their contract offer, giving him more years, guarantees, and total money than the Vikings. If anything, the Falcons tampering only sped up an inevitable process. The Vikings were never going to go that far, which is why Kirk Cousins is in Atlanta.
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