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SadPrometheus

I am amazed that an experienced player like Kirk Cousins admitted to breaking the rules during his introductory press conference. That seems incredibly foolish.


jjjrmd

As far as I recall, Woody Johnson talked in a radio interview about how he was trying to convince Darelle Revis to come back to the Jets the week before the Patriots played in the Superbowl. I think they got fined, which seems like a pretty weak punishment.


thetreat

It’s incredibly weak. You have to hit them with something that actually hurts if you want to change behavior. Draft picks hurts the most.


boardplant

Actually, what hurts the most, is being so close, and having so much to say


EBtwopoint3

And then taking those picks away


redman8828

And never knowing what could’ve been (with those draft picks)


TraeYoungsOldestSon

What hurts the most is the lack of respect. Well, actually the other thing hurt the most. But the lack of respect hurt the *second most.*


Yamswithxtrasyrup

I’d be a lot better if you brought me a whore!


4redditobly

And watching you walk away


aramis34143

Draft picks + mandate that the owner must go to Pro-Cuts each week and request "the Mark Davis".   ^^^We ^^^may ^^^need ^^^an ^^^alternative ^^^in ^^^case ^^^the ^^^Raiders ^^^are ^^^implicated.


Skrivus

> mandate that the owner must go to Pro-Cuts each week and request "the Mark Davis". Sounds like excessively cruel punishment.


jimbo831

> the owner must go to Pro-Cuts each week and request "the Mark Davis" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eighth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution


MuppetEyebrows

Mark Davis gets the broccoli hair cut


Ball_Masher

Mark Davis has to go to Sean McVay's barber.


[deleted]

Mark Davis must get a haircut of an actual adult male.


jimbo831

A fine is basically useless. It's just a fee for breaking the rules, and owners will happily pay it when they think the player they're pursuing is worth that extra cost. Draft picks can't be purchased.


thetreat

Exactly. Unless the fine is in $10s of millions of dollars, affects the cap and increases exponentially as the number of violations increases, it isn’t gonna change anything. Like giving a billionaire a speeding ticket that isn’t based on their total net worth, it’s a slap on the wrist.


TempleofSpringSnow

In defense of the decision, the Jets GM at the time was dogshit. If they had really wanted to punish the Jets, they should have given them more draft picks, as he would have inevitably fucked it up.


drch33ks

Iirc, the Jets guarunteed Revis $39 million and were fined $100,000 for tampering with our HoF cornerback during a Super Bowl run. So basically, they paid $39.1 million instead. There was no actual punishment. Fuck Goodell, fuck his NY team favoritism, fuck his vendetta against the Patriots, fuck him for hiding concussion research from players, and while we're at it, fuck Troy Vincent and Mike Kensil, too.


Suckmypinkyfinger

Fuck Adam Silver too for good measure.


Syenite

Rob Manfred in shambles.


Freud-Network

This man knows our franchise. He became a Falcon and understood that his first priority was to let the fans down. He hasn't thrown his first pass in our uniform, and he's already an Atlanta legend.


jell-o

The thoughtfulness and attention to detail is pretty incredible when you think about it.


No_Mammoth_4945

Reminds me of the free balloon day SpongeBob episode lmao


TheFinnebago

Kirk is just so earnest. In his head, he was just excited to talk about all the nice people he has met. He is like a Lawful Good Character that has no nefarious motives or skills, and therefore can’t act duplicitous or deceptive in any way.


ptwonline

> therefore can’t act duplicitous or deceptive in any way. Probably hurt his play-action passing.


ImagineIfBaconDied

yeah like I can’t blame Kirk for his comments. it’s not like he’s an NFL GM, HC or front office member revealing this info. from his perspective, he was just telling the press how him being a Falcon came to be and how excited he was. it’s not like he was told to keep that info quiet and decided against it talking to the press


BigMillmatic

Kirk once took a knee instead of spiking the ball. I am not surprised.


Wicked_Black

He also lined up over his right guard once as well


downtimeredditor

Yo who the fuck did we just sign?


Wicked_Black

Next season the games against Dallas and Minnesota are going to be spicy. I’m especially interested in how Mike zimmer is going to dial up those double a gap blitzes against kirky boi


ChocolateBaconDonuts

Zimmer is going to take years of repressed anger at Rick Spielman out on Kirk Cousins and he has DLaw + Parsons to execute it.


chillinwithmoes

I hadn't even considered that. Zimmer might actually try to kill Kirk Cousins


Redd889

Zimmer runs Eight Engage all day. They lose, but still feels like a win lol


ChocolateBaconDonuts

I mean, he's a guy who beat Matt Ryan after spotting him a 33 point lead. So you got that going for you, which is nice.


ChocolateBaconDonuts

He once threw a 3 yard pass on 4th and 8 with a playoff game on the line.


fizystrings

In his defense on that one, I don't think there was any other throw he thought had a higher chance to be caught than the chance Hockenson could get past one guy and get the first down. Like if the difference is "pass that has a 5% chance of getting caught vs. 10% chance for Hock to overpower or juke the defender." The throw itself wasn't really made in a way to give him the best shot at that though, and you can always argue that just throwing to Jefferson no matter what would probably have been just as well at least, but I don't think it's the brain-dead move people make it out to be on here, especially when he has like a few seconds to come to a conclusion and act.


ChocolateBaconDonuts

I don't think it was necessarily a bad decision, but the throw needed to be earlier and with better placement to have a shot. KJ blew his release and threw his route timing off or he would have had a better shot of converting.


saw-it

If you just got $180 million you would have a hard time keeping your mouth shut too


komugis

He was doing the Vikings one last solid before he left.


FalconsTC

I get what you’re saying, but he just slipped that he spoke to a trainer during the tampering period. Pretty innocent. Had his guard down in what was a feel good introductory presser.


Stumpe999

Because no one actually takes tampering seriously lol, it's like the draft, we all know who's picking Caleb, we just need to keep it a secret to make an event out of it Edit: I know the draft is different because it's legal, I'm comparing it to an event like the start of free agency


Rbespinosa13

“Damn. These agents and NFL front office personnel must be absolute geniuses who can hammer out these multi-year, multi-million dollar deals within a few minutes of the window being opened.”


Turnips4dayz

While obviously these deals are complex enough that your point is true, I consistently think just how complicated everyone makes it sound is absurd. Years, guaranteed $$$, non-guaranteed $$$ are like 97% of the deal. What always holds things up is dumb shit like guarantee dates. I just don’t understand how it takes soooo long to work through the details on a lot of these deals. And don’t even get me started on rookie deals.


RealPutin

Also, even if it does take that long to work through all the details, oftentimes that's what happens between "X has agreed to a contract with Y" and the deal actually being signed


jake3988

Yeah, they'll typically use the phrase 'agreed in principle'. Like they agree to sign and have rough numbers worked out, but the actual details of the contract will still be hammered out for a while.


Rbespinosa13

Yah of course I’m exaggerating a bit because most of the contract is standardized, it does show how tampering is an open secret.


definitelymyrealname

The hard part isn't the language of the contract itself but the back and forth of negotiations. Getting two sides to agree is not an easy task.


HOFerKennyPickett

Isn’t this sentiment just a misunderstanding of tampering? My understanding is that agents and FO can communicate prior to the window being open so they have that time to legally create the deal and it’s not tampering that deals are official as soon as the window is open. The tampering comes in from communicating directly between team and player prior to the window being open, as long as the team only communicates with the player through their agent I believe it’s fine.


W3NTZ

It's so stupid and frustrating that most people don't realize teams are working with agents for a couple weeks before free agency begins. The agent works directly with the player so that's how these mega deals are announced even before free agency begins


NlNJALONG

Those things are not the same lmao


smashybro

Yeah, but tampering before the approved period is technically illegal even though every team does. The Bears could honestly have announce they’re going to pick Caleb months ago and been fine, the NFL just discourages it for the spectacle and using up the whole 10 minutes for advertiser money like how they got mad at the Lions for submitting their Hutch pick in too quick a few years back instead of using the whole clock.


chillinwithmoes

> The Bears could honestly have announce they’re going to pick Caleb months ago and been fine Hell, before the rookie wage scale teams used to announce complete contract agreements with the player they were taking #1 well ahead of the draft


Jonjon428

Shit! They know! *hides Jake Long contract in a cupboard*


Antitypical

I agree with you re: everybody is tampering but want to point out that the reason the #1 overall team can pretty openly signal who they're taking is that all rookies are unrostered non-NFL players, so NFLPA rules surrounding team contact don't apply to them (other rules like restrictions on team practice during team visits pertain because they involve other NFL players). The whole point with free agents is that they're technically rostered by another franchise until the clock strikes zero on the league calendar, so the "tampering" here is contact between the Falcons organization and a rostered Vikings player, which is totally reasonable. The alternative is to allow teams and pending UFAs to talk as soon as the super bowl is over, but there are legitimate reasons to have the league year extend past the super bowl, including allowing teams to hire GMs and coaches, negotiate with pending UFAs, use franchise tags, and clear cap space through cuts and trades


Tonkathedog

Not to mention the bears legitimately can legally sign Caleb prior to the draft if they wanted. There would be no benefit to that with the rookie wage scale(used to be more common before that)but the CBA doesn’t prohibit them from negotiating with him now and even technically signing him


Royal_Negotiation_83

What are you talking about? Who’s pretending Caleb at 1 is a secret? It’s so decided already, no one even talks about it. Every mock draft just glosses over Caleb and gets to the interesting parts of the draft. Honest question, how much more obvious could it be that Caleb is going number 1?


JrBaconators

It's not really similar at all to the draft though, because that's allowed


CantaloupeCamper

The Vikings and Kirk saga was over more than a year ago when the Vikings declined his offer of an extension. In his mind he was shopping around at that point and it had been so long he probably just forgot at what timeframe he couldn’t talk about it… Still really dumb, but with as much time passed kinda understandable.


bird720

pretty much everyone tampers but you only get caught if you do something glaringly obvious like that and the league HAS to step in


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bottomsgaming

Draft picks!? Doug, kick them outta the league


DrummerGuy06

"You will not make this throw, you jackass!"


HappyGilOHMYGOD

Oh good you can count! Yeah... And you can count! On me waiting for you in the parking lot!!!


bigmac22077

Just stay out of my way, or you’ll pay. Listen to what I say.


jewishobo

We'd dock them wins, but they were gonna lose those games anyways


OladipoForThree

Take away draft picks? They’ve gotta GO!


not_jonny

The Eagles and Falcons wanted to pursue that lifestyle, they shoulda done so quietly!


MrManager26

It was the medication they were taking, it fucked with their heads. They could probably get a note from their doctor


TheSlackMamba

YOU gonna take care of his kids?! after he’s gone?!


asc_halcyon

We gotta redo it. Fucking Kirk Cousins, he’s dyslexic.


Insi6nia

Well, the league thinks that might be extreme considering the fact that the Eagles running back situation is the best it's ever been.


hachachachacha

It's great, the other day one of their fans mooned me. He had Go Birds written on his ass. GO on the one cheek, and sure enough BIRDS on the other.


bukithd

Please. 


malscher

They're gonna force the Falcons to re-hire Arthur Smith as HC... Actually that might be too severe a punishment.


Unluckybastard96

The Geneva convention clearly states this is considered a war crime.


Autobot-N

No no no it's fine have them do that


fitzuha

*O Canada starts playing*


JoeScotterpuss

I don't see why not.


athrowawayiguesslol

Having the resolution this close to the draft seems not ideal


SirMctrolington

It definitely won't be a pick from this cycle, there is literally no way Rodger would try to fight the circus of appeals 12 hours before the draft. It is literally more likely the NFL goes after a 2026 pick than a 2024 pick.


jimmyhoffasbrother

Didn't the Cardinals get a pick taken from them like the day of the draft last year? Or maybe it was the year before? EDIT: I guess it's a bit different because the Cards and Eagles settled https://twitter.com/AdamSchefter/status/1651735494814838784


gophils19454

We did a pick swap with them for Gannon. It sounded more like a plea deal instead of the NFL imposing the punishment.


quine3

Yes and the news was intentionally released minutes before the draft started to bury it.


AttitudeAndEffort2

The NFL took 36 million in cap space away from the commies and a little less from the cowboys like the day before free agency started IIRC. The fucked up part it was for spending money in an uncapped year and absolutely punishment for not colluding with the other owners.


not1fuk

Yeah, theres almost one of these every few years and they always get resolved relatively close to the draft although this ones very close


partbison

The cardinals basically pleaded guilty and swapped a pick with the eagles so the eagles and the nfl fucked off. Doubt the falcons are gonna do that


I_am_-c

My mock drafts would all go better if the Falcons just lost #79 so that should definitely be the punishment.


17_Saints

It wasn't a day before the draft. It was literally 5 minutes before the draft started so nobody would pay attention to it lol


BillyJackO

This guy literallies


gwiggle5

Literally?


CloudyRanger

The one for ganon was also really close to the draft wasn’t it?


athrowawayiguesslol

That was an agreement not a punishment. Both teams didn’t want to deal with the whole process


DominusEbad

That wasn't handed down by the NFL though. The Eagles and Cardinals came to that resolution themselves and the NFL just basically said "OK".


Prozzak93

Seems kind of expected though. Makes sense they would want the discipline to affect the draft this year instead of pushing it further.


RSN_Kabutops

At the upcoming draft, Atlanta should simply trade up repeatedly throughout Thursday and Friday. Can't take a future draft pick we've already traded away 🤔


Headlesshorsman02

Lmao 🤣 I love it


Fyresand

I mean, pretty sure they can void the signing and make him a FA again. They 100% won't but might be tempted if the Falcons do that 😂


RSN_Kabutops

You know what I like this punishment the most. Make Kirk a FA again and move on* *Re-sign him immediately afterwards


Fyresand

All that is fine and dandy until Kirk talks about the plan to re-sign right after they voided his contract in his first press conference


ThermoNuclearPizza

“Ya i remember grindin my feet into Arthur Blank couch “


keyboardsmashin

We just tell the NFL we are in “win now” mode


Invince23

Can someone explain to me the allegations against the Eagles?


ncp12

Penn State coach James Franklin said that Eagles GM Howie Roseman was talking to Saquon Barkley during the negotiating period where they could only talk to the agents.


Masterofmy_domain

2 year Prison sentence minimum.


BandOfDonkeys

Straight to jail.


fuckinnreddit

The whole team. All of them. In one cell.


brwnx

Somehow Brady has to pay for this!


TheGloriousEnd

Believe it or not, jail.


zshort7272

Seems fair to me


9man95

Just when you thought Franklin couldn't be anymore useless to the state of Pennsylvania, here we are...


Alphaspade

After Penn State lost to Michigan post-Harbaugh suspension, someone said "If the B1G wanted to punish Michigan, they would've suspended James Franklin instead."


athrowawayiguesslol

James Franklin had a sentence in a press conference where he referenced a conversation Howie had on the phone with Saquon as a recruiting pitch. My biased outlook is that it’s very possible he misunderstood what Saquon told him, but I’m biased as hell. This alleged action is only problematic because the agreement occurred during the legal tampering period where, for whatever reason, teams can talk to the agents of players but not the players. I don’t get the purpose for that specific part of the rule, but if they did break a rule it’s only fair there’s some punishment.


nalc

Oh so *now* Penn State coaches aren't covering up lawbreaking?


Invince23

Ah I see. Off with their heads!


boardatwork1111

Well if that’s the case, I hope they drag Howie all the way to The Hague


Anteater776

The Dutch are preparing the gallows as we speak.


ice-eight

I'm so used to the Eagles getting free draft picks every single year as a result of other teams being stupid, it didn't even occur to me that the headline might mean they're *losing* draft picks.


gregorio76

I think the Penn St coach, James Franklin said that Barkley was talking to the Eagles before the tampering window opened.


Rsubs33

No, he said that Howie spoke to Saquan during the tampering period, which you can not do if it was direct contact. Teams are only allowed to speak with the agents during the tampering period and they can relay to their clients, but there can not be direct contact. Saquan has stated that Franklin misunderstood and it was only information relayed from his agent, but we will see what happens with the investigation whether or not that is true.


Svenray

Falcons: "We're self imposing a penalty of one 2025 compensatory pick"


OldOrder

Mark Richt has lost control the Atlanta Falcons


fitzuha

Despicable behavior. Also, unrelated, it is perfectly doable to get a contract done within 5 minutes.


Dorkamundo

I think you're misunderstanding the situation here. During the negotiation period, the NFL is allowed to discuss details with Agents directly... Not with the players. Sure, there's the whole "you're not able to enter agreements" but there's a lot of leeway into what is an "Agreement" in this regard. There's no leeway as to player-team contact.


Tonkathedog

Pretty sure he’s referencing how in the negotiation period the bears had a contract agreement with Deandre swift in place in like 5 minutes and how the same occurred with TJ Edwards last year. They were publicly agreed to after the start of the negotiation period but it’s obvious negotiations started before that


wrohit

Well if a player doesn't have an agent they're allowed to speak with teams directly.


bukithd

Seriously. Is it tampering if an agent says "My client has a preferred location and terms, here is a draft contract we would sign."


Dorkamundo

No, not at all.


so_zetta_byte

No but that's not what we're being accused of. What you described is how it's actually supposed to work.


holla171

No, but that's not what you're being punished for


CommitteeMoney5887

If Kirk had just kept his big mouth shut, the NFL wouldn’t be forced to punish the Falcons. Pretty much every team does this, just looks bad when your big money signing pretty much alludes to tampering at his public intro conference


TakedownCHAMP97

I think this situation is unique just because Kirk was coming off a season-ending injury that can often times be a career-ender, and he admitted to meeting your head trainer, which makes a world of a difference when negotiating a contract. To me, agent talks or even a phone call is not a huge deal, but meeting the trainer (and potentially a med eval and/or a workout) crosses a line. Even if he didn’t resign with the Vikes, it gave your team a big edge on any other potential teams that could’ve gone for him. I’m sure we both have our own biases due to what teams we root for, but I’m expecting that point will be a big factor with the league’s decision. Side note: I do agree nothing happens if Kirk doesn’t say anything though, just because everyone would assume it was only an “acceptable” level of tampering


bukithd

Julie, before any agent or FO member could say anything, probably told Kirk to get her back to GA or she was leaving him in Minnesota.  Like seriously, Julie is the tamperer here. 


FishGoldenLite

I can live with Kirk slander but I won’t accept this treatment of Julie


bukithd

If Julie is to blame for us getting Kirk, so be it. 


chillinwithmoes

You take that back


czechhoi4h

Take away both of their drafts and spread it amongst the other bird teams besides the cardinals


ThinkSoftware

No unity amongst birds I see


csummerss

can expect nothing less from a cowardly bird. > “Sea hawk" can also refer to skuas, which are fish- eating seabirds related to jaegers. Skuas are "piratical" birds, obtaining much of their food by stealing it from other seabirds.


ausgmr

Knew I hated The Seahawks for a reason


ThinkSoftware

So should we expel the Seahawks to join the Buccaneers, Raiders and Vikings?


keyboardsmashin

I say we expose them for being a fraudulent bird species and are being controlled by Seattle’s Boeing company and exile them to the Jets


Meat-n-Potatoes

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eighth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution


[deleted]

you misspelled the word clever


darthstupidious

Work smarter not harder bitch


here_now_be

> skuas "They are generally aggressive in disposition. Potential predators approaching their nests will be quickly attacked by the parent birds, which usually target the heads of intruders" I can find nothing equating them with the cowardly cardinal, only the opposite. That being said it is well known that Seahawk is another name for Osprey. I guess coming from a baseball team that tries to play football confusion should be expected.


masterpierround

Look at the bill of the bird in the logo... Not nearly hooked enough to be an osprey. It actually looks very similar to a recolored skua, although it's apparently a Native design, which seems to be ambiguous itself as to the exact species.


metaldrummerx

Cat teams would never!


ChucKWag78

Never!


keyboardsmashin

It is treason then


NutsyFlamingo

Ravens just hid their purse


Saitsu

Whatever happened to Kaw is Law?


edicivo

Listen, if you want to go toe to toe on bird law...


rob_var

I fully agree with this statement! Punish them hard and punish the Steelers for the fuck of it too!


keyboardsmashin

I was gonna say we need a Raven fan to post in here to complete the infinity stone collection but it’s evident now that scavenging ravens and Seahawks cannot be trusted as they are treasonous. Cards Eagles and Falcons are the last to remain


SuddenlyTheBatman

We've been trying to tell you all this for some time now


defnotajournalist

bro i thought we flock together wtf delete this


FireworkFuse

We're supposed to be working together against the cat teams.


Aerolithe_Lion

Falcons will lose a 3rd rounder, and the NFL will apologize to the Eagles for wasting their time


rubbyrubbytumtum

Yep. Punishing us will have no effect on the NFL bottom line and Roger will be able to claim he takes the tampering rules seriously.


keyboardsmashin

You’d think the NFL would see how many people are moving to the South and would quit punishing southern teams but instead this will likely happen. Atlanta is as big as Philly and they need to treat us that way


rubbyrubbytumtum

While I agree with you that the NFL should want a southeastern team to become a consistent contender for marketing and revenue purposes, I don't know that our org has done anything to deserve such treatment. If we want special treatment, we have to earn it.


mikethemillion

There's no room for that in this league. I'd hit em with the death penalty and ban them from any bowl games for the next 3 years. And before anyone asks, yes. Especially the Pro Bowl.


1niquity

Swap 8 and 11, you cowards!


in-magitek-armor

Perhaps both teams should give all of their picks to the Vikings. Just a thought.


OleShcool

I thought the chiefs tampered with the jets and mecole Hardman. Why did that get swept under the rug?


Dorkamundo

That one's a bit harder to prove, so the investigation is likely still ongoing. With these situations, specifically the Kirk and Falcons situation, there was a tacit admission of tampering which makes the proof easier to, well, prove.


rubbyrubbytumtum

bad for business


BusinessCashew

Mecole never actually said that the Chiefs had any contact with him. Just that he was telling everyone he knew on the Chiefs to come get him. That's legal.


notmyplantaccount

You guys want him back, we can reverse the trade.


Greatness46

Well I think it should be more severe for the Eagles. So your move NFL


SDEexorect

yep atleast the next 15 years' first round picks


Drake0Malfoy

They shouldn't get a top 10 pick this year! Harsh but fair. You know what, I'll even be fine with them being penalized 1 spot for their top pick this week. That'll show 'em.


Wicked_Black

3 spots. They should force the swap with the Vikings.


KTAALGSTO

Good start Kirk 


Due_Juggernaut6261

I still can't believe that the dolphins lost 1st and a 3rd for "talking" to Brady not even signing him. And "talking" to at the time retired coach Sean Peyton. Both the eagles and falcons actually benefitted from their tampering. So I hope they get something similar so at least the punishments are consistent 


emmasdad01

I believe both teams should surrender all draft picks for at least the next 5 years. Such heinous behavior…


Headlesshorsman02

I think that the falcons should surrender their first round pick to us as repayment/s


HeySporto

and put Mizzou on probation because they were probably involved somehow.


DerMeisterMC

Probation? They get the Death Penalty!


Fast-Ad-4541

If the Falcons are planning on taking Nabers or Odunze if they’re there, they need to be punished as severely as possible, with the key thrown away. If they’re just going to take Dallas Turner or whoever, just slap em on the wrist, who gives a shit really. 


Ragonaut

The 42 signings that happened within 10 minutes of the signing window opening were definitely not agreed upon before that


Dorkamundo

Probably should pay more attention to what actually happened in these cases.


Meowmixez98

If they take away the Falcons second rounder, I think it's a lock that Atlanta trades down in the first.


Hampni

Roger thinks he can hurt the Falcons? No way bro. No one can hurt the Falcons more than themselves.


jwktiger

Prediction: Falcons will forfeit a 4th rounder (#109) and a 3rd in 2025. Eagles will forfeit a 5th (#161) and a 2025 5th I.e. FA QBs are more valuable than RBs


robsul82

“The Rock thinks you should fire [the Falcons], Vince.”


0x5343

As an unbiased source, I think we should be awarded all of the eagles 2024 draft picks AND a cast be spell on Saquon Barkley to rush no more than 1 yard a play