Former NFL Exec Explains Why Eagles Won’t Be Punished For “Tampering”
News broke yesterday that the NFL is investigating tampering claims against both the Eagles and Falcons. The Eagles part stems from Penn State Head Coach James Franklin saying that Howie Roseman talked to Saquon Barkley before he was allowed to. But according to one former NFL exec, the Eagles probably won’t face punishment for it.
Andrew Brandt joined The Best Show Ever earlier this week. Here was his answer when Tyrone asked him if he expects the Eagles to face discipline from this investigation:
“No… if the NFL is really going to get into that, they can find that with every team. There will always be cover. if it is players talking to agents before the Legal Tampering period, you could always talk about something else. Unless someone is going to turn you in. But who has the motivation to turn you in? It will never be the player, the team, or the agent. It might be a competing agent, that’s a cutthroat industry. But that is so rare.”
Brandt went on to explain how pretty much every team “tampers”. He told us that by the end of the Combine, most free agents know where they are signing. NFL teams have cover to talk to agents while there. They could be talking to the agent about anything. Chances are that agent also covers a player who is on their team. He went as far as to say that in his 25 years of experience in NFL front offices, he never watched a workout at the combine. It was always about talking to agents.
Saquon Barkley clarified what Franklin meant when he spoke to the media. he claimed that what Franklin meant is that Howie said those things to him through his agent. It would be hard for the NFL to prove otherwise.
So while Franklin is still dumb for blurting that out, don’t expect much to come out of it. If the NFL punished the Eagles for this, they would have to punish everyone.