NFL Closes Tampering Case Involving Saquon Barkley, James Franklin

The NFL interviewed the Penn State coach after his comments regarding Barkley signing with the Philadelphia Eagles.

Penn State coach James Franklin stands with Saquon Barkley in the Beaver Stadium tunnel. / Matthew O'Haren/USA Today Sports

The NFL has cleared the Philadelphia Eagles of tampering charges related to comments made by Penn State football coach James Franklin about Saquon Barkley's decision to sign with the team.

Franklin touched off questions of tampering in March, when he called the Eagles' decision to sign the former Penn State running back "pretty cool."

"[Barkley] said that was one of the first things that [Eagles general manager Howie Roseman] said to him on the phone as part of his sales pitch," Franklin said then. "Not only the Philadelphia Eagles and that that but also the connection with Penn State and the fan base as well. So just a really cool opportunity."

Evidently that prompted the NFL to question whether the Roseman-Barkley conversation fell outside of the league's negotiating window, thus potentially constituting tampering. Franklin later said that he "kind of misinterpreted" what Barkley had told him about signing with the Eagles.

"I had a 10-minute conversation with Saquon and I just assumed and connected dots that weren't there," Franklin said in mid-March. "All those conversations went through his agent. And obviously I made a comment for three minutes that was misinterpreted, but by no means was it how it was portrayed."

The NFL released the following statement about its investigation:

“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 ncovered, the league may reopen the investigation.”

Barkley recently appeared with Franklin at an event in Philadelphia to benefit Happy Valley United, Penn State's official NIL collective.

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AllPennState is the place for Penn State news, opinion and perspective on the SI.com network. Publisher Mark Wogenrich has covered Penn State for more than 20 years, tracking three coaching staffs, three Big Ten titles and a catalog of great stories. Follow him on Twitter @MarkWogenrich.