Report: Eagles will not be punished for potential tampering with RB Saquon Barkley

The Eagles are all clear.

On the first day of the NFL’s legal tampering period, the Eagles agreed to terms with former Giants RB Saquon Barkley on a lucrative three-year, $37.75M contract.

During the pre-free-agency negotiating window, teams are prohibited from speaking with players and can only have direct contact with player agents.

Following the signing, Barkley’s former coach at Penn State, James Franklin, suggested that GM Howie Roseman violated these rules and spoke with Barkley during the process.

“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. So just a really cool opportunity.” — via Mark Wogenrich of SI.com

This prompted the NFL to launch an investigation regarding Philadelphia’s contact with Barkley.

After several weeks, the league announced on Thursday that the Eagles will not be punished, as no evidence was found regarding a potential Anti-Tampering violation.

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…

— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) June 13, 2024

Pelissero notes 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.

The league also reviewed Atlanta’s contact with Kirk Cousins prior to legal tampering — they weren’t so lucky.

In summary:

— The #Eagles were not penalized for tampering.

— The #Falcons lost a 2025 5th-round pick for violating the anti-tampering policy with Kirk Cousins, Darnell Mooney and Charlie Woerner. ATL was fined $250K and GM Terry Fontenot was fined $50K. pic.twitter.com/LZIzWBbrkx

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) June 13, 2024

Kirk Cousins admitted to speaking directly to the Falcon’s head athletic trainer during the negotiation window, so this result was expected.

After all that, stripping only a fifth-round pick seems a bit anticlimactic. If anything, the NFL is enabling the tampering to continue.

Both matters are now closed unless new evidence emerges.

Former Giants RB Saquon Barkley reached agreement with the Philadelphia Eagles on a three-year, $37.75 million contract that could be worth up to $46.75M and includes $26M fully guaranteed at signing, per sources.

Barkley now beats the franchise tag number and has a maximum… pic.twitter.com/d2TnEWhaQ0

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 11, 2024

Mandatory Credit: USA Today Sports