15 March 2024 , 05:00
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New Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins may have accidentally broken NFL rules.
The NFL is now looking into whether the Falcons did something wrong after Cousins let slip that he had spoken to the team's head athletic trainer before he was allowed to. Cousins recently signed a contract with Atlanta for $160million (£125.7m) over four years.
He has always wanted to be the main quarterback for a team capable of winning a Super Bowl and it's hoped this deal makes that dream come true. But during his first press conference with the team, Cousins said something he shouldn't have.
He mentioned that he had spoken to the team's athletic trainer and the head of public relations before Wednesday, which is when the official period for talking to players begins. "There's great people here," Cousins said.
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"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 PR I'm thinking, we got good people here. And that's exciting to be a part of."
The NFL has rules about when teams can talk to players who are free agents. These rules are important because they make sure all teams have a fair chance to sign the best players. The word 'tampering' means contacting players or their agents before the official period starts. This is done to stop any team from getting an unfair advantage.
In American football, a player's deal wraps up in March. But before this, there's a 'legal tampering period' when teams can chat with agents of players who are about to become free agents. However, no deals can be finalised during this time, and players cannot be contacted directly until the new season officially kicks off.
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Cousins missed half of the 2023 season due to an Achilles tendon injury (Getty)So, what happens if American Football football don't play by the rules? If a team is found to have contacted a potential signee too early, they might get their draft picks taken away or even be fined. In previous years, teams have been punished by the NFL.
Jeremy Maclin was still sided with the Philadelphia Eagles when the Kansas City Chiefs spoke to him back in 2016. This broke the Anti-Tampering Policy of NFL, landing Chiefs in trouble. They lost their third-round draft pick in 2016 and a sixth-round pick in 2017.
In addition, the Chiefs had to pay $250,000 (£196,000). Coach Andy Reid was also handed a $75,000 (£58,900) fine and John Dorsey, then-general manager, bagged a $25,000 (£19,600) fine too.
In 2011, the Detroit Lions got into trouble for tampering with a player from the Chiefs, Jarrad Page. This happened because Gunther Cunningham, who used to work with the Chiefs and was then with the Lions, said things that showed the Lions wanted Page. The NFL made the Lions swap their fifth-round draft picks with the Chiefs because of this.
* An AI tool was used to add an extra layer to the editing process for this story.
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