National Football League Fan Blog

In just about every sports league there are rules that govern the contact a player can have with management for other teams. In short, teams are not allowed to talk to players on other rosters to try and entice them to force a trade or sign with them. The problem with this rule, however, is that it is very difficult to enforce. There is no telling what sort of contact a general manager has with a player or his agent. In this day, almost no one is dumb enough to put an under-the-table deal in writing.

Just last year, the Redskins completed a free agent deal with Albert Haynesworth so quickly that tampering was thought to have occured. Haynesworth’s contract had such complicated stipulations, it was next to impossible for Washington to have negotiated and drafted the agreement between the start of free agency and the time he was signed. But, unable to prove anything beyond a doubt, the Tennessee Titans had to eventually let the matter drop.

The truth is that Haynesworth’s and, now, Julius Peppers’ deals are commonplace. Tampering is an offense that I would believe every team in the league is guilty of, that’s just what happens when the rules can’t be enforced. In Peppers’ case, the Chicago Bears were said to have met with his agent, Carl Carey. This wouldn’t be suspicious if Carey had more NFL clients other than Peppers, but he doesn’t. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what, or who, the Bears and Carey were discussing. And the fact that Peppers signed a six-year deal with Chicago on the first day of free agency, despite being a marquee player that many teams were interested in, should be particularly damning.

But, like other cases before it, there is little doubt in mind that this matter will be forgotten and filed away by the NFL soon enough. Because when it comes to enforcing tampering rules, the league just does not care enough to make an example of an organization. And until they do, the trend of the last few years will continue.