Kirk Cousins Cheating Controversy? Could Falcons Be Punished For Free Agency Signing?

The Atlanta Falcons gave Kirk Cousins the biggest contract in 2024 free agency this week, agreeing to a four year, $180 million deal with the former Minnesota Vikings quarterback.

There is the official day a player can sign. Before that, there is an official couple of days during which player can be "legally tampered" with.

Did the Atlanta Falcons - who gave Kirk Cousins the biggest contract in 2024 free agency this week, agreeing to a four year, $180 million deal with the Minnesota Vikings quarterback - break the rules in the process?

Cousins, in the estimation of some, seemed to admit to the Falcons having broken the rules in their recruiting of him.

“There’s great people here,” Cousins said. “And it’s not just the football team. I mean, I’m looking at the support staff. Meeting — calling, yesterday, calling our head athletic trainer, talking to our head of PR. 

"I’m thinking, we got good people here. And that’s exciting to be a part of.”

It is exciting. But as Pro Football Talk points out, the NFL rules do not allow players to speak with members of the franchise outside of the legal operating window.

'Take Us to Promised Land': Pitts Led Falcons' Cousins Recruiting Effort

Did Atlanta violate that? Do Cousins' words prove it to be so?

Yes, these sorts of conversations are commonplace. But there is precedent for teams being punished for it (the Kansas City Chiefs once forfeited a third-round pick after having been found guilty) ... and now there will likely be an investigation into whether the Falcons deserve a similar punishment.