March 14, 2024
A damper is already being put on the Eagles' signing of Saquon Barkley.
Penn State football head coach James Franklin, who coached Barkley in State College, made off-hand comments this week about Barkley's connection with his home state of Pennsylvania when signing with the Birds. The issue? He said that Eagles general manager Howie Roseman was in contact with Barkley ahead of time, a big no-no during the "legal tampering" period when teams are only allowed to speak with agents, not players:
Penn State head coach James Franklin says one of Howie Roseman’s first things he said to Saquon Barkley as part of his sales pitch was “the connection with Penn State and the fan base, playing in PA.” pic.twitter.com/38dIWOWXDn
— SPORTSRADIO 94WIP (@SportsRadioWIP) March 13, 2024
The Eagles have denied impermissible contact with Barkley. ESPN's Tim McManus provided more information on the matter:
An Eagles spokesperson said that all recruiting done by the team is facilitated through the agent.
The NFL declined to comment on whether it is investigating possible impermissible contact. An Eagles spokesperson said he was unaware of any communication from the league to the team on the subject as of Wednesday evening.
The New York Giants have not reached out to the league about the matter, according to a source. [ESPN]
It remains to be seen how the Giants will handle this situation:
The #Giants tell me they know that the NFL is aware of Penn State coach James Franklin's comments about Saquon Barkley's Eagles recruitment, but they have not communicated with the league on the matter or the possibility of tampering beyond that
— Pat Leonard (@PLeonardNYDN) March 14, 2024
This type of tampering is likely way more common than the league wants to admit, but speaking out about, as Franklin did, is always going to cause issues to pop up.
Well, the NFL is now looking into the potential tampering:
The NFL is looking into potential tampering by the #Eagles and #Falcons prior to the start of free agency, as is standard in such matters, per league source.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) March 14, 2024
This is a developing story...
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