While journalists who cover the NFL were having a field day with leaks of contract details and players announcing where they plan to go, the NFL was surprisingly not happy about it.
The NFL sent out a memo to all 32 teams on Monday, reminding them that there is a three-day negotiating period for all unrestricted free agents, notes Pro Football Talk. If any violations are found, the league will start an investigation.
“The memo makes clear that we will look into any potential violations of the rules,” NFL spokesman Greg Aiello told the site.
What raised red flags for the NFL was the flurry of news about free agents committing to new teams. That includes Ndamukong Suh going to the Dolphins and Frank Gore agreeing to terms with the Eagles, all before free agency officially begins on Tuesday.
The NFL’s rules about the three-day negotiating period - which started on Saturday - get a bit confusing. According to ESPN, during that period, teams can start talking with a player’s agent about pitches and then an agent makes a response. While a team can adjust its pitch based on the response from the agent, they are not supposed to call these pitches “offers.” Therefore, a player isn’t supposed to agree on a contract offer until after the negotiating period.
“You are reminded that the purpose of the three-day negotiating period is to create a level playing field in the competition for Unrestricted Free Agents, by permitting clubs to express interest in a prospective UFA and to exchange information with certified agents regarding the level of compensation envisioned by the club and the agent,” the memo, which PFT posted here, reads. “Any attempt to undermine the purpose of this negotiating period may be considered conduct detrimental to the League.”
You’d think that the NFL would be happy about all the leaks, since it kept people talking about the league, even on a Sunday without any games.
image courtesy of Dara Kushner/INFphoto.com