Vikings: Insider Rips NFL’s Penalty for Falcons Tampering With Kirk Cousins

Getty Quarterback Kirk Cousins #18 of the Atlanta Falcons.

The NFL handed out discipline in the investigation over tampering charges related to former Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins. Cousins signed with the Atlanta Falcons in free agency this offseason, with the speed of the agreement drawing attention.

He then suggested he was in touch with Falcons personnel. What he described seemingly fell outside the NFL’s guidelines for permissible contact.

The NFL found that was the case and has docked the Falcons for it.

“The NFL is docking the #Falcons a 2025 fifth-round pick for violating the league’s anti-tampering policy with Kirk Cousins, Darnell Mooney and Charlie Woerner. The team is also being fined $250,000 and GM Terry Fontenot is being fined $50,000,” NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reported on X on June 13.

“The violations are considered logistical/administrative, such as making travel arrangements after players agreed to terms, and did not involve contact prior to the negotiating window, per sources.”

Pelissero then added context to the reasoning behind what was notably lighter punishment than
the NFL has handed out in previous instances.

It drew pointed comments for the league from another insider.

“Key part of the NFL’s findings on the #Falcons: The violations were found to have occurred *during* the two-day negotiating window, not before it opened, e.g. talking to players about flights after they’d (legally) agreed to terms,” Pelissero posted. “Hence, less discipline than in some other cases.”

Insider Takes NFL to Task Over Kirk Cousins Tampering Investigation

GettyQuarterback Kirk Cousins #18 of the Atlanta Falcons.

“This is NFL-propagated BS,” Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio said, quote-posting Pelissero’s report. “Cousins admitted to speaking directly to the head athletic trainer and to director of player personnel Ryan Pace during the negotiating window.”

Florio was not done. He posted an anonymous executive’s take on the situation. He also wrote that the NFL doled out a “wrist slap” for the Falcons.

“Said a high-level executive with another team about the Falcons’ tampering punishment: ‘If I can land the top QB in free agency for a fifth-round pick and $250K, I’ll sign up for that any day.,’ an anonymous executive said, per Florio.

“The NFL has sent a clear message to all teams when it comes to tampering with potential free agents,” Florio wrote on June 12. Go ahead and do it.

“The punishment was, frankly, laughably small.”

Falcons Recieve Light Sentence After Tampering With Vikings Free Agent Kirk Cousins

GettyGeneral manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah of the Minnesota Vikings.

Florio noted the Kansas City Chiefs in 2016. They lost a third-round pick for contact with former Philadelphia Eagles receiver Jeremy Maclin. The Miami Dolphins lost first and third-round picks and had their owner suspended in 2022. They were also found guilty of multiple infractions.

“Why would Falcons talk directly to players about travel arrangements and risk tampering violation when they were already legally talking to their agents and could have just done it through them?” Florio said in another post on X. “(Hint: They weren’t talking about travel arrangements.)”

Florio restated a previous note about Falcons executive Rich McKay, who sits on the competition committee. He also said the NFL wants to sweep cheating allegations under the rug.

At any rate, the outcome is a far cry from some early speculation that the Vikings could benefit.