Eagles can finally put big offseason drama behind them with latest NFL decision
The Philadelphia Eagles can move past all the offseason drama that they got swallowed up in. The team signed star running back Saquon Barkley this offseason, but the NFL began to "look into" the Eagles for illegal tampering. They thought that Philadelphia might have contacted Barkley prior to the beginning of the legal tampering period on March […]
The Philadelphia Eagles can move past all the offseason drama that they got swallowed up in.
The team signed star running back Saquon Barkley this offseason, but the NFL began to "look into" the Eagles for illegal tampering.
They thought that Philadelphia might have contacted Barkley prior to the beginning of the legal tampering period on March 11.
And on Thursday, the NFL officially concluded their review, releasing a statement.
"After a thorough review of the Philadelphia Eagles signing of Saquon Barkley, the NFL today informed the club that the investigation did not discover sufficient evidence to support a finding that the Anti-Tampering Policy was violated.
In coming to this conclusion, the league reviewed phone logs, text messages and other documents related to Philadelphia’s free agency strategy and decision to sign Barkley. The NFL also interviewed several members of the organization, including Howie Roseman and Nick Sirianni, as well as Barkley and Penn State head coach James Franklin. As with every review, should new evidence be uncovered, the league may reopen the investigation," per NFL Network's Ian Rapoport.
NFL Network's Tom Pelissero added some additional information about the investigation.
"In coming to this conclusion, the league reviewed phone logs, text messages and other documents related to Philadelphia’s free agency strategy and decision to sign Barkley. The NFL also interviewed several members of the organization, including Howie Roseman and Nick Sirianni, as well as Barkley and Penn State head coach James Franklin. As with every review, should new evidence be uncovered, the league may reopen the investigation," Pelissero wrote.
And in order to get those 'phone logs, text messages, and other documents,' the NFL reportedly sent people to the Eagles and Falcons' facilities, confiscating phones, computers and hard drives, per CBS' Jonathan Jones.
The NFL prohibits teams from making direct contact with players (unless they do not have an agent) during the legal tampering window.
Barkley said early this year during his introductory press conference, the team did nothing wrong. And now the NFL agrees with them.
Another team that was being looked into was the Atlanta Falcons, and they were not as lucky as the Eagles.
The NFL found that the violated the anti-tampering polity when signing quarterback Kirk Cousins along with Darnell Mooney and Charlie Woerner this offseason. They lost a 2025 5th-round pick, and were fined $250K. Falcons General manager Terry Fontenot was fined $50K.
Now the Eagles can put this in the past and focus on the 2024 season.
