KC Chiefs To Lose Pick For Tampering
By Scott Dillon
The KC Chiefs are being punished for free agent tampering in regards to Jeremy Maclin last year. What does the penalty entail?
Adam Schefter, NFL Insider for ESPN, tweeted that the Chiefs would forfeit their third-round pick in 2016 and their sixth-round pick in 2017 for violating the leagues free agent tampering rules.
According to Adem Teicher, who covers the KC Chiefs for ESPN, the penalty will also include a fine of $250,000 to the team, $75,000 to Andy Reid, and $25,000 to John Dorsey.
Apparently, the violation has to do with how Jeremy Maclin was contacted during leading up to the free agency period. during the ‘Legal Tampering’ period, the teams can engage with a player’s agent, but cannot contact the player directly.
According to Dan Hanzus of Around The NFL:
"During the two-day period, all teams have the right to negotiate “all aspects of an NFL player contract” with the certified agent of an impending free agent. Figures can be exchanged on a deal, but nothing can be agreed to or announced before the start of free agency on Wednesday.There are restrictions to this process. A free agent is not permitted to visit with a team other than their current team. Furthermore, a player cannot be in contact with a team that is not their own. Only the agent can communicate on the player’s behalf during this period. If a player acts as his own agent, he’s out of luck — the NFL does not allow communication with another team before Wednesday."
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The Chiefs purportedly had contact with Maclin directly during this period. While that is obviously a violation of the rules, this kind of thing happens all the time and penalties this severe are a little surprising.
Even with the new rules, there are teams who have violated these rules. Both Malik Jackson and Kelichi Osemele had the details of their contracts leaked last night. That was well before the free agency period officially began. The rules prohibit the deal from being announced prior to free agency. Both of these signings would appear to be in violation, but honestly, who cares?
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The bottom line is that every team engages in these practices. It appears that Roger Goodell may be trying to prove a point in enforcing these rules, and the Chiefs are the first on the chopping block.
All of the teams engage in these talks prior to the start of free agency. Deals are agreed to in principal prior to the start of free agency every year. If the NFL is naive enough to believe that 4:00 PM eastern hits, and then people just start agreeing to contracts, they are out of their minds.
Either way, it looks like the Chiefs are going to have to deal with one less pick in this years draft. While it’s a late third-round pick, that certainly hurts. It also diminishes their ability to trade for other players. What do you think about the penalty KC Chiefs’ fans? Do they deserve what they get for cheating? Is every team cheating? Let me know your thoughts in the comments’ section below.