According to Dan Graziano, the NFL is looking into potential tampering violations by the Eagles for signing RB Saquon Barkley and the Falcons when signing QB Kirk Cousins.
Penn State HC James Franklin mentioned Eagles GM Howie Roseman talked directly with Barkley during the legal tampering period, which isn’t allowed unless the player is their own agent.
“For him now to come back and be able to play within the state, in Philadelphia, he said that was one of the first things that Howie said to him on the phone as part of his sales pitch to him was not only the Philadelphia Eagles and that but obviously the connection with Penn State and the fan base as well,” said Franklin, via Tim McManus.
The NFL has not commented if they are investigating the situation, and the Giants have not made a complaint on the issue either, per McManus.
Philadelphia recently signed Barkley to a three-year, $37.75 million contract, while Atlanta signed Cousins to a four-year, $180 million deal.
Barkley, 27, was the second-overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft. He was entering the fourth year of a four-year, $31.19 million rookie deal with the Giants that included a $20.767 million signing bonus when the Giants picked up his fifth-year option.
Barkley’s fifth-year option cost the Giants $7.22 million fully guaranteed for the 2022 season. He was set to be an unrestricted free agent in 2023 when he was franchised at a sum of $10.09 million fully guaranteed.
In 2023, Barkley appeared in 14 games for the Giants and rushed for 962 yards on 247 attempts with six rushing touchdowns to go along with 41 receptions on 60 targets for 280 yards receiving and four touchdowns.
Cousins, 35, is a former fourth-round pick of Washington back in 2012. He played out the final year of his rookie contract before being franchised in back-to-back seasons.
Cousins later departed in free agency for a three-year, $84 million contract with the Vikings. He was entering the final year of his contract in 2020 when he agreed to a two-year, $66 million contract extension. In 2021, he agreed to a new one-year, $35 million contract extension that was also fully guaranteed.
He was in the final year of that deal in 2023 and was testing the market as an unrestricted free agent when signing with the Falcons this offseason.
In 2023, Cousins appeared in eight games for the Vikings and completed 69.5 percent of his passes for 2,331 yards, 18 touchdowns and five interceptions.
We had both players included in our Top 100 – 2024 NFL Free Agents list.
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