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The Atlanta Falcons are being investigated by the NFL for potential tampering during their pursuit of newly-signed quarterback Kirk Cousins, but team owner Arthur Blank doesn’t believe anything was done wrong.
“The tampering deal, we obviously don’t believe we tampered, and we shared all the information with the league,” Blank said at the NFL’s annual meeting Monday, per ESPN’s Michael Rothstein. “And they’ll review the process and the facts and they are in the middle of doing that, and whatever the result is, we’ll deal with it.”
Cousins’ agent announced on social media two days before the official start of free agency that the veteran signal-caller agreed to terms with the Falcons. Cousins, who spent the last six seasons with the Minnesota Vikings, signed a four-year deal worth up to $180 million with Atlanta.
While teams were able to begin speaking with agents during the legal negotiating period that started on March 11, they were not permitted to have direct contact with players. Cousins indicated during his introductory news conference that he spoke with Atlanta’s head trainer prior to the start of the new league year on March 13.
“When you get here and you look around and you think, boy, there’s great people here,” he said that day. “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 and talking to our head of PR, I’m thinking we’ve got good people here. And that’s exciting to be a part of.”
The NFL reportedly opened up its investigation into the matter the day after Cousins’ news conference.
Landing the four-time Pro Bowler gave the Falcons their best quarterback since Matt Ryan was traded to the Indianapolis Colts in 2022. Atlanta has not had a winning record or a playoff appearance since 2017.
“Obviously our football folks felt strongly. Our fans I definitely think would concur with that,” Blank said Monday. “He’s a very high-quality quarterback, he’s performed at a high level for 12 years in the league and feel pretty fortunate having him as a quarterback and look forward to seeing the results with him. … He’s in house, ready to go to work, he is working and see how it unfolds.”
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